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Ductile Cast Iron vs. 6061 Aluminum

Ductile cast iron belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 6061 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 29 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 ductile cast iron and the bottom bar is 6061 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 170 to 180
69
Elongation at Break, % 2.1 to 20
3.4 to 20
Poisson's Ratio 0.28 to 0.31
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 64 to 70
26
Shear Strength, MPa 420 to 800
84 to 210
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 460 to 920
130 to 410
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 310 to 670
76 to 370

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 270
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 290
170
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1160
650
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1120
580
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 490
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 31 to 36
170
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 11
24

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.4
43
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.8 to 9.4
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 1.9
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.1 to 7.5
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.5
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 21
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 43
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 17 to 80
3.8 to 81
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 280 to 1330
42 to 1000
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 12 to 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24 to 26
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17 to 35
13 to 42
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 29
21 to 45
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 8.9 to 10
68
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 17 to 35
5.7 to 18

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
95.9 to 98.6
Carbon (C), % 3.0 to 3.5
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0
0.040 to 0.35
Copper (Cu), % 0
0.15 to 0.4
Iron (Fe), % 93.7 to 95.5
0 to 0.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.8 to 1.2
Manganese (Mn), % 0
0 to 0.15
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.080
0
Silicon (Si), % 1.5 to 2.8
0.4 to 0.8
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.15
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15

Comparable Variants