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6081 Aluminum vs. AISI 422 Stainless Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 422 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 422 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
15 to 17
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
410 to 500
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
76
Shear Strength, MPa 180
560 to 660
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
910 to 1080
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
670 to 870

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
650
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1480
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1470
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
24
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 47
4.7
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 160
5.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
11
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
3.1
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
44
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
100

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
140 to 150
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
1140 to 1910
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
32 to 38
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
26 to 30
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
6.4
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
33 to 39

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.2 to 0.25
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
11 to 12.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
81.9 to 85.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0.5 to 1.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.9 to 1.3
Nickel (Ni), % 0
0.5 to 1.0
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.025
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.025
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Tungsten (W), % 0
0.9 to 1.3
Vanadium (V), % 0
0.2 to 0.3
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0