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6081 Aluminum vs. EN 1.4501 Stainless Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.4501 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 EN 1.4501 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
27
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
430
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
80
Shear Strength, MPa 180
540
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
830
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
600

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

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
22
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
4.1
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
57
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
210
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
870
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
29
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
25
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
4.0
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
22

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
24 to 26
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0.5 to 1.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
57.6 to 65.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0 to 1.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
3.0 to 4.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
6.0 to 8.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.2 to 0.3
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.035
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.015
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Tungsten (W), % 0
0.5 to 1.0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0