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SAE-AISI 5160 Steel vs. 6061 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 5160 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 6061 aluminum belongs to the aluminum 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 SAE-AISI 5160 steel and the bottom bar is 6061 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
69
Elongation at Break, % 12 to 18
3.4 to 20
Fatigue Strength, MPa 180 to 650
58 to 110
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
26
Shear Strength, MPa 390 to 700
84 to 210
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 660 to 1150
130 to 410
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 280 to 1010
76 to 370

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 420
170
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1450
650
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1410
580
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 43
170
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
24

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.2
43
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.3
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 2.1
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.4
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 19
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 50
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 73 to 160
3.8 to 81
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 200 to 2700
42 to 1000
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 23 to 41
13 to 42
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 22 to 31
21 to 45
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 12
68
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 19 to 34
5.7 to 18

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
95.9 to 98.6
Carbon (C), % 0.56 to 0.61
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0.7 to 0.9
0.040 to 0.35
Copper (Cu), % 0
0.15 to 0.4
Iron (Fe), % 97.1 to 97.8
0 to 0.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.8 to 1.2
Manganese (Mn), % 0.75 to 1.0
0 to 0.15
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
0.4 to 0.8
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.040
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.15
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15

Comparable Variants