6061 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI D2 Steel
6061 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI D2 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 29 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, 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 SAE-AISI D2 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 3.4 to 20 | |
| 5.0 to 16 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 58 to 110 | |
| 310 to 860 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 75 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 84 to 210 | |
| 460 to 1160 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 130 to 410 | |
| 760 to 2000 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 76 to 370 | |
| 470 to 1510 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 270 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1440 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 580 | |
| 1390 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 170 | |
| 31 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 11 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 43 | |
| 4.3 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 140 | |
| 5.1 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 8.0 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 7.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 3.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 50 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 100 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 3.8 to 81 | |
| 92 to 100 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 42 to 1000 | |
| 570 to 5940 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 to 42 | |
| 27 to 72 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 21 to 45 | |
| 24 to 46 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 68 | |
| 8.3 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 5.7 to 18 | |
| 25 to 67 |
Alloy Composition
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| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.9 to 98.6 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 1.4 to 1.6 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.040 to 0.35 | |
| 11 to 13 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0.15 to 0.4 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 81.3 to 86.9 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.8 to 1.2 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 to 0.6 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.7 to 1.2 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.4 to 0.8 | |
| 0 to 0.6 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 1.1 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |