5251 Aluminum vs. C16500 Copper
5251 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C16500 copper belongs to the copper 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 5251 aluminum and the bottom bar is C16500 copper.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 110 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 2.0 to 19 | |
| 1.5 to 53 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 43 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 110 to 160 | |
| 200 to 310 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 180 to 280 | |
| 280 to 530 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 67 to 250 | |
| 97 to 520 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 210 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 180 | |
| 340 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1070 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 610 | |
| 1010 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 380 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 250 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 37 | |
| 60 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 61 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 31 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 8.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.5 | |
| 2.6 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 42 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 320 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 5.4 to 27 | |
| 7.8 to 110 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 33 to 450 | |
| 41 to 1160 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 7.1 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 29 | |
| 8.6 to 17 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 26 to 35 | |
| 11 to 16 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 61 | |
| 74 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 7.9 to 13 | |
| 9.8 to 19 |
Alloy Composition
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| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.5 to 98.2 | |
| 0 |
| Cadmium (Cd), % | 0 | |
| 0.6 to 1.0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 97.8 to 98.9 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 1.7 to 2.4 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.1 to 0.5 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.4 | |
| 0 |
| Tin (Sn), % | 0 | |
| 0.5 to 0.7 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |