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6081 Aluminum vs. EN 1.4104 Stainless Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.4104 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 EN 1.4104 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
11 to 23
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
230 to 310
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Shear Strength, MPa 180
400 to 450
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
630 to 750
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
350 to 560

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
860
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1390
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
25
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 47
2.5
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 160
2.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
8.5
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
2.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
30
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
77 to 120
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
310 to 800
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
23 to 27
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
21 to 24
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
6.7
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
22 to 27

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.1 to 0.17
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
15.5 to 17.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
78.8 to 84.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0 to 1.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.2 to 0.6
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0.15 to 0.35
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0