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Zamak 5 vs. 6101 Aluminum

Zamak 5 belongs to the zinc alloys classification, while 6101 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 21 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (14, 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 Zamak 5 and the bottom bar is 6101 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 87
68
Elongation at Break, % 6.3
10 to 25
Poisson's Ratio 0.25
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 33
26

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 120
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 95
160
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 390
650
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 380
620
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 410
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 110
220 to 230
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 27
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 26
57 to 60
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 37
190 to 200

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
9.5
Density, g/cm3 6.4
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.0
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 57
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 380
1190

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 7.5
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 23
50
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 42
89 to 93

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 3.5 to 4.3
97.6 to 99.4
Boron (B), % 0
0 to 0.060
Cadmium (Cd), % 0 to 0.0050
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0
0 to 0.030
Copper (Cu), % 0.7 to 1.3
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 0.5
Lead (Pb), % 0 to 0.0050
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.025 to 0.080
0.35 to 0.8
Manganese (Mn), % 0
0 to 0.030
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.020
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.030
0.3 to 0.7
Tin (Sn), % 0 to 0.0030
0
Zinc (Zn), % 94.3 to 95.7
0 to 0.1
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.1