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6081 Aluminum vs. AISI 403 Stainless Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 403 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, 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 403 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
190
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
16 to 25
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
200 to 340
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
76
Shear Strength, MPa 180
340 to 480
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
530 to 780
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
280 to 570

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
740
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
28
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
9.9

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 47
2.9
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 160
3.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
6.5
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
1.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
27
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
99

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
110 to 120
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
210 to 840
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
19 to 28
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
19 to 24
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
7.6
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
20 to 29

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.15
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
11.5 to 13
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
84.7 to 88.5
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0 to 1.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
0 to 0.6
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 0.5
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