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6081 Aluminum vs. EN 1.8523 Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.8523 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, 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 1.8523 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
190
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
15
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
530
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
74
Shear Strength, MPa 180
610
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
1000
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
800

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
260
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
480
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
39
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 47
7.8
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 160
9.0

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
4.2
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
2.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
31
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
64

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
140
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
1700
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
36
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
28
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
10
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
29

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.35 to 0.45
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
3.0 to 3.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
93.5 to 95.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0.4 to 0.7
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.8 to 1.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.035
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 0.4
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.035
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Vanadium (V), % 0
0.15 to 0.25
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0