MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

6081 Aluminum vs. AISI 301LN Stainless Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 301LN stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 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 6081 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 301LN stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
23 to 51
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
270 to 520
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Shear Strength, MPa 180
450 to 670
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
630 to 1060
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
270 to 770

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
890
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
16

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 47
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 160
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
13
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
2.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
39
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
130

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
220 to 290
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
180 to 1520
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
22 to 38
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
21 to 30
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
4.0
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
14 to 24

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
16 to 18
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
70.7 to 77.9
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
6.0 to 8.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.070 to 0.2
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0