6101 Aluminum Bus Bar:
Pure aluminum has a conductivity of about 65 percent of the International Annealed Copper Standard (lACS). Aluminum can be produced 99.99 percent pure; however, this purity is costly to achieve and the mechanical properties are low.

After World War II, a new conductor alloy, 6101, was developed which has considerably higher yield strength and better creep resistance than 1350. The alloy contained magnesium and silicon for high mechanical strength without significant reduction in conductivity. The strength of this alloy (6101) is obtained by suitable heat treatment, occasionally combined with some cold work.
Temper T6
This is solution heat treated and artificially aged to max. mechanical property levels.

Thermal Capacity
The thermal storage capacity of aluminium is 0.214 cal/gram/°C. For copper it is 0.092 cal/gram/°C. Therefore aluminium has a thermal storage capacity of more than 2-3 times that of copper. This is used to advantage in wound transformers, as aluminium can withstand more surge and overload currents.

Conductivity
When the density of copper (8.89 gm/cm²) is compared to aluminium (2.91gm/cm²) and taking into consideration the conductivity ratio of aluminium to copper of 57% for grade 6101 aluminium, aluminium has approximately 1.85 times that of copper. Copper has a greater conductivity on an equal volume, cross sectional area basis.
Mechanical Strength
Aluminium does have a lower tensile strength (37%) than copper for the same cross section of material. However, approximately 66% greater cross-section of grade 6101 aluminium is required to carry the same amount of current as would be required for a copper conductor, so the larger cross-section of aluminium approaches the tensile strength of copper for a given ampacity.

Type of Bar	Alloy and Temper	Thickness (mm)	Radius min.
Extruded	1350-H11	All	1 * thickness
	6101-H11	0.250-0.750 0.751-1.000	1 * thickness 2 * thickness
	6101-T6	0.125-0.375	2 * thickness 21/2 thickness
	6101-T61	0.125-0.500 0.501-0.749 0.750-1.000 1.001-1.625	1 * thickness 2 * thickness 3 * thickness 4 * thickness
	6101-T63	0.125-0.375 0.376-0.500 0.501-1.000	1 * thickness 11/2 thickness 21/2 thickness
	6101-T64	0.125-0.750 0.751-1.000	1 * thickness 2 * thickness
	6101-T65	0.125-0.500 0.501-0.749	1 * thickness 2 * thickness
Rolled	1350-H12	All	1 * thickness
Sawed plate	1350-H112	All	1 * thickness

Applicable to widths up through 6 inches in the T6,T61,T63 and T65 temper and to widths up through 12 inches for all other listed tempers. Bend radius for greater widths are subject to inquiry.