2018 Aluminum vs. ASTM A283 Carbon Steel
2018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while ASTM A283 carbon steel belongs to the iron alloys. 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 2018 aluminum and the bottom bar is ASTM A283 carbon steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 120 | |
| 110 to 140 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.6 | |
| 26 to 34 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 120 | |
| 150 to 190 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 27 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 270 | |
| 240 to 310 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 420 | |
| 360 to 480 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 310 | |
| 180 to 260 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 390 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 220 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 510 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 870 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 51 to 53 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 22 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 40 | |
| 7.1 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 8.1 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.1 | |
| 7.8 to 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.1 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1130 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 37 | |
| 100 to 110 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 670 | |
| 91 to 180 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 45 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 38 | |
| 13 to 17 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 41 | |
| 14 to 17 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 57 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 19 | |
| 11 to 15 |