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S32550 Stainless Steel vs. 6081 Aluminum

S32550 stainless 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 (5, 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 S32550 stainless steel and the bottom bar is 6081 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
69
Elongation at Break, % 21
9.0
Fatigue Strength, MPa 400
110
Poisson's Ratio 0.27
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 80
26
Shear Strength, MPa 540
180
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 860
310
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 620
270

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 300
410
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 1100
160
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1440
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1390
610
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
180
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.2
47
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.5
160

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 20
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.8
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 53
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 180
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 160
27
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 940
540
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 31
32
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 26
37
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.4
74
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 23
14

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
96.3 to 98.6
Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.040
0
Chromium (Cr), % 24 to 27
0 to 0.1
Copper (Cu), % 1.5 to 2.5
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 57.2 to 67
0 to 0.5
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.6 to 1.0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 1.5
0.1 to 0.45
Molybdenum (Mo), % 2.9 to 3.9
0
Nickel (Ni), % 4.5 to 6.5
0
Nitrogen (N), % 0.1 to 0.25
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.040
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 1.0
0.7 to 1.1
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.15
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.2
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15