MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

6081 Aluminum vs. AISI 310 Stainless Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 310 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, 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 310 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
34 to 45
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
240 to 280
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
78
Shear Strength, MPa 180
420 to 470
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
600 to 710
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
260 to 350

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
310
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
1040
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
15

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 47
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 160
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
25
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
4.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
61
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
190

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
200 to 220
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
170 to 310
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
21 to 25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
20 to 22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
3.9
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
14 to 17

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.25
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
24 to 26
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
48.2 to 57
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
19 to 22
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 1.5
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