MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

6061 Aluminum vs. PC

6061 aluminum and PC belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. 6061 aluminum is a metal, while PC is a polymeric material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 7 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (31, 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 6061 aluminum and the bottom bar is PC.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Material Properties

Density, g/cm3 2.7
1.2 to 1.4
Elongation at Break, % 3.4 to 20
3.5 to 110
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
1000 to 1200
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 13 to 42
15 to 30
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 21 to 45
30 to 45
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 130 to 410
66 to 160
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
10 to 69