C16500 Copper vs. SAE-AISI M50 Steel
C16500 copper belongs to the copper alloys classification, while SAE-AISI M50 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 23 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (8, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is C16500 copper and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI M50 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 110 | |
| 190 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.34 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 43 | |
| 75 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 280 to 530 | |
| 720 to 2250 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 210 | |
| 260 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1070 | |
| 1480 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1010 | |
| 1440 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 380 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 250 | |
| 35 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 17 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 60 | |
| 8.7 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 61 | |
| 10 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 31 | |
| 9.0 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 8.9 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 2.6 | |
| 5.1 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 42 | |
| 74 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 320 | |
| 83 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 7.1 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 18 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 8.6 to 17 | |
| 26 to 80 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 11 to 16 | |
| 23 to 49 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 74 | |
| 9.7 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 9.8 to 19 | |
| 21 to 66 |
Alloy Composition
| Cadmium (Cd), % | 0.6 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.78 to 0.88 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 3.8 to 4.5 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 97.8 to 98.9 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.020 | |
| 87 to 90.4 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.45 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 3.9 to 4.8 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 | |
| 0.2 to 0.6 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Tin (Sn), % | 0.5 to 0.7 | |
| 0 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 | |
| 0.8 to 1.3 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 |