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SAE-AISI 1040 Steel vs. 6106 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 1040 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 6106 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is SAE-AISI 1040 steel and the bottom bar is 6106 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
69
Elongation at Break, % 13 to 20
9.1
Fatigue Strength, MPa 220 to 340
88
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
26
Shear Strength, MPa 350 to 390
170
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 570 to 640
290
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 320 to 530
220

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 400
160
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1460
660
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1420
610
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 51
190
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.0
49
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.0
160

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 1.8
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.4
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 18
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 46
1190

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 79 to 96
24
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 270 to 760
370
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 20 to 23
29
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 21
35
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 14
78
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18 to 20
13

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
97.2 to 99.3
Carbon (C), % 0.37 to 0.44
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0
0 to 0.2
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.25
Iron (Fe), % 98.6 to 99.03
0 to 0.35
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.4 to 0.8
Manganese (Mn), % 0.6 to 0.9
0.050 to 0.2
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.040
0
Silicon (Si), % 0
0.3 to 0.6
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.050
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.1
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.15
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15