MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

SAE-AISI T6 Steel vs. 5040 Aluminum

SAE-AISI T6 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5040 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 21 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, 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 T6 steel and the bottom bar is 5040 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 210
70
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 81
26
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 880 to 2150
240 to 260

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
400
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1830
650
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1770
600
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 400
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 18
160
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
23

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 70
9.5
Density, g/cm3 9.5
2.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 11
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 170
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 160
1180

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 12
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 21
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 26 to 63
24 to 26
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 21 to 39
31 to 32
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.7
64
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 26 to 64
10 to 11

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
95.2 to 98
Carbon (C), % 0.75 to 0.85
0
Chromium (Cr), % 4.0 to 4.8
0.1 to 0.3
Cobalt (Co), % 11 to 13
0
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.25
0 to 0.25
Iron (Fe), % 55.9 to 63.5
0 to 0.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
1.0 to 1.5
Manganese (Mn), % 0.2 to 0.4
0.9 to 1.4
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0.4 to 1.0
0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.3
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.030
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.2 to 0.4
0 to 0.3
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Tungsten (W), % 18.5 to 21
0
Vanadium (V), % 1.5 to 2.1
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15