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SAE-AISI 4118 Steel vs. 6081 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 4118 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, 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 4118 steel and the bottom bar is 6081 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
69
Elongation at Break, % 23
9.0
Fatigue Strength, MPa 230
110
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
26
Shear Strength, MPa 320
180
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 500
310
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 320
270

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
410
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 410
160
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1460
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1420
610
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 46
180
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.2
47
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.2
160

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 2.3
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.5
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 20
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 49
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 100
27
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 280
540
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18
32
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18
37
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 13
74
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15
14

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
96.3 to 98.6
Carbon (C), % 0.18 to 0.23
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0.4 to 0.6
0 to 0.1
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 97.5 to 98.4
0 to 0.5
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.6 to 1.0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.7 to 0.9
0.1 to 0.45
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0.2 to 0.3
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
0.7 to 1.1
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.040
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.15
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.2
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15