Aluminum 6061-T6 Round Bar Weight
Mass per metre and per foot for aluminum 6061-t6 round bar at 2,700 kg/m³ (ASTM B221 / B209 (T6 temper)). Every figure is for the section as drawn. A 6 m length of this size weighs 8.0 kg (17.8 lb per 20 ft).
At the reference dimensions (d = 25 mm) this section has a cross-sectional area of 490.9 mm², giving 1.325 kg/m (0.891 lb/ft). Against carbon steel's 7,850 kg/m³ that is -65.6 % — the same section in steel would be 3.853 kg/m.
Round Bar — formula and derivation
Area of a round bar
A = π/4 · d²
A = π/4 × d², where d is the outside diameter
Worked through with the default dimensions:
A = π/4 × d²A = 0.785398 × 25²A = 0.785398 × 625.0A = 490.9 mm²
- d
- Diameter — Outside diameter measured across the bar.
Weight follows from the area with no further geometry: m = A × 10⁻⁶ × ρ, where A is in mm², ρ in kg/m³ and m in kg/m. At 2,700 kg/m³ that is 1.3254 kg/m for the reference size above.
AL 6061 round bar — size series
| Diameter | Cross-section | Mass / length |
|---|---|---|
| 6.0 mm | 28.27 mm² · 0.0438 in² | 0.076 kg/m · 0.051 lb/ft |
| 8.0 mm | 50.27 mm² · 0.0779 in² | 0.136 kg/m · 0.091 lb/ft |
| 10 mm | 78.54 mm² · 0.1217 in² | 0.212 kg/m · 0.142 lb/ft |
| 12 mm | 113.10 mm² · 0.1753 in² | 0.305 kg/m · 0.205 lb/ft |
| 14 mm | 153.94 mm² · 0.2386 in² | 0.416 kg/m · 0.279 lb/ft |
| 16 mm | 201.06 mm² · 0.3116 in² | 0.543 kg/m · 0.365 lb/ft |
| 20 mm | 314.16 mm² · 0.4869 in² | 0.848 kg/m · 0.570 lb/ft |
| 25 mm | 490.87 mm² · 0.7609 in² | 1.325 kg/m · 0.891 lb/ft |
| 30 mm | 706.86 mm² · 1.0956 in² | 1.909 kg/m · 1.282 lb/ft |
| 32 mm | 804.25 mm² · 1.2466 in² | 2.171 kg/m · 1.459 lb/ft |
| 40 mm | 1,256.64 mm² · 1.9478 in² | 3.393 kg/m · 2.280 lb/ft |
| 50 mm | 1,963.50 mm² · 3.0434 in² | 5.301 kg/m · 3.562 lb/ft |
| 60 mm | 2,827.43 mm² · 4.3825 in² | 7.634 kg/m · 5.130 lb/ft |
| 80 mm | 5,026.55 mm² · 7.7912 in² | 13.572 kg/m · 9.120 lb/ft |
| 100 mm | 7,853.98 mm² · 12.1737 in² | 21.206 kg/m · 14.250 lb/ft |
Computed for AL 6061 at 2700 kg/m³ (0.0975 lb/in³). ASTM B221 / B209 (T6 temper).
Each row is one nominal size. Because the area is computed from your dimensions rather than read from a mill table, a non-standard size is just as accurate — put it into the calculator above rather than interpolating between rows.
Imperial sizes
Round Bar is also bought in inch sizes. The conversions below are exact (1 in = 25.4 mm by definition), so the metric equivalents are the true millimetre dimensions rather than a rounded nominal figure.
| Stock size | Metric equivalent mm | Cross-section | Mass / length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/8 in | 3.17 | 7.92 mm² · 0.0123 in² | 0.021 kg/m · 0.014 lb/ft |
| 3/16 in | 4.76 | 17.81 mm² · 0.0276 in² | 0.048 kg/m · 0.032 lb/ft |
| 1/4 in | 6.35 | 31.67 mm² · 0.0491 in² | 0.086 kg/m · 0.057 lb/ft |
| 5/16 in | 7.94 | 49.48 mm² · 0.0767 in² | 0.134 kg/m · 0.090 lb/ft |
| 3/8 in | 9.52 | 71.26 mm² · 0.1104 in² | 0.192 kg/m · 0.129 lb/ft |
| 1/2 in | 12.70 | 126.68 mm² · 0.1963 in² | 0.342 kg/m · 0.230 lb/ft |
| 5/8 in | 15.88 | 197.93 mm² · 0.3068 in² | 0.534 kg/m · 0.359 lb/ft |
| 3/4 in | 19.05 | 285.02 mm² · 0.4418 in² | 0.770 kg/m · 0.517 lb/ft |
| 7/8 in | 22.22 | 387.95 mm² · 0.6013 in² | 1.047 kg/m · 0.704 lb/ft |
| 1 in | 25.40 | 506.71 mm² · 0.7854 in² | 1.368 kg/m · 0.919 lb/ft |
| 1-1/4 in | 31.75 | 791.73 mm² · 1.2272 in² | 2.138 kg/m · 1.436 lb/ft |
| 1-1/2 in | 38.10 | 1,140.09 mm² · 1.7671 in² | 3.078 kg/m · 2.068 lb/ft |
| 2 in | 50.80 | 2,026.83 mm² · 3.1416 in² | 5.472 kg/m · 3.677 lb/ft |
| 2-1/2 in | 63.50 | 3,166.92 mm² · 4.9087 in² | 8.551 kg/m · 5.746 lb/ft |
| 3 in | 76.20 | 4,560.37 mm² · 7.0686 in² | 12.313 kg/m · 8.274 lb/ft |
| 4 in | 101.60 | 8,107.32 mm² · 12.5664 in² | 21.890 kg/m · 14.709 lb/ft |
Stock sizes in inches, converted exactly at 25.4 mm per inch. Material: Aluminum 6061-T6 at 2700 kg/m³.
The same round bar in every material
Geometry is fixed and only density changes, so this table is the whole material-selection question in one view. Aluminum 6061-T6 is highlighted. The percentage column is against carbon steel, which is the figure most quotations are built on.
| Material | Density kg/m³ | lb/in³ | Mass / length kg/m | lb/ft | vs carbon steel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon Steel | 7,850 | 0.2836 | 3.853 | 2.589 | +0.0 % |
| Stainless Steel 304 | 8,000 | 0.2890 | 3.927 | 2.639 | +1.9 % |
| Stainless Steel 316 | 8,000 | 0.2890 | 3.927 | 2.639 | +1.9 % |
| Stainless Steel 316L | 8,000 | 0.2890 | 3.927 | 2.639 | +1.9 % |
| Stainless Steel 430 | 7,700 | 0.2782 | 3.780 | 2.540 | -1.9 % |
| Aluminum 6061-T6 | 2,700 | 0.0975 | 1.325 | 0.891 | -65.6 % |
| Aluminum 5052-H32 | 2,680 | 0.0968 | 1.316 | 0.884 | -65.9 % |
| Aluminum 7075-T6 | 2,810 | 0.1015 | 1.379 | 0.927 | -64.2 % |
| Copper C11000 | 8,940 | 0.3230 | 4.388 | 2.949 | +13.9 % |
| Brass C36000 | 8,500 | 0.3071 | 4.172 | 2.804 | +8.3 % |
| Bronze C93200 | 8,800 | 0.3179 | 4.320 | 2.903 | +12.1 % |
| Titanium Grade 2 | 4,510 | 0.1629 | 2.214 | 1.488 | -42.5 % |
| Gray Cast Iron | 7,200 | 0.2601 | 3.534 | 2.375 | -8.3 % |
| Lead | 11,340 | 0.4097 | 5.567 | 3.741 | +44.5 % |
| Rigid PVC (Type I) | 1,400 | 0.0506 | 0.687 | 0.462 | -82.2 % |
| HDPE (PE 100) | 960 | 0.0347 | 0.471 | 0.317 | -87.8 % |
Same geometry throughout, so the only variable is density. Carbon steel is highlighted as the baseline.
A note on using this table for costing: mass is not price. Aluminium is roughly a third of steel's mass here, but per kilogram it costs several times more, so a straight swap rarely saves money — what it buys is reduced load on a structure or a vehicle.
About aluminum 6061-t6
The general-purpose structural aluminium: magnesium and silicon alloyed, precipitation-hardened to T6, readily welded and machined. At 2,700 kg/m³ it is 2.91 times lighter than carbon steel, which is the entire reason it gets specified — but designers routinely forget that its modulus is also only about a third of steel’s, so a straight aluminium-for-steel swap cuts mass by 66 % while roughly tripling deflection for the same section. Weight savings and stiffness are separate problems.
- Density
- 2,700 kg/m³ = 0.0975 lb/in³ · 0.3439× carbon steel · typical spread ±1 %
- Specification
- ASTM B221 / B209 (T6 temper)
- Equivalents
- EN AW-6061 · JIS A6061 · GB 6061
- Typical uses
- Aircraft and drone frames · Marine decking and masts · Machine guards and jigs · Truck and trailer bodies
About round bar
Round bar is the only shape whose area grows with the square of a single dimension, so small diameter changes move weight much faster than intuition suggests: going from 25 mm to 28 mm — a 12 % diameter increase — raises the weight per metre by 25 %. This is why shaft stock is normally bought to the nearest preferred diameter rather than machined down from the next size up; the material saved is more than the weight table implies.
Specified by diameter only. For ground and polished stock, add the tolerance class and the straightness limit.
Download this data
AL 6061 round bar — CSV
Both buttons below read the tables rendered on this page, so the file matches what you are looking at. The full catalogue — all 16 materials across all 10 sections — is on the downloads page.
Fields are quoted per RFC 4180, with a UTF-8 byte-order mark so Excel reads the mm² and · characters correctly. Blank lines separate the weight matrix from the area matrix.
Frequently asked questions
How much does aluminum 6061-t6 round bar weigh?
At the reference dimensions (d = 25 mm) a aluminum 6061-t6 round bar of this size weighs 1.325 kg/m, or 0.891 lb/ft. The table above lists the figure for every standard size so you can read your size directly instead of scaling.
How is the weight of round bar calculated?
Weight is cross-sectional area × length × density. For this shape the area is A = π/4 · d². At the reference dimensions that gives 490.9 mm², and multiplying by aluminum 6061-t6's density of 2,700 kg/m³ gives 1.325 kg/m. Nothing is looked up in a table — which is why a non-standard size is calculated just as accurately as a standard one.
Why does aluminum 6061-t6 weigh more or less than steel?
It is lighter than carbon steel for the same section — about 66 % lighter at 2,700 kg/m³. Density is the only variable: the cross-sectional area depends purely on geometry, so a round bar of the same dimensions has the same area in every material and the mass simply scales with density. In this case the ratio is 0.3439× carbon steel.
What is the cross-sectional area of a round bar?
The area depends only on the dimensions, not on the material, so it is identical whichever material you select: at the reference dimensions it is 490.9 mm² (0.7609 in²). That is the number you would enter into a stress or deflection calculation, and it is why changing material on this page never changes the area column.
Does a al 6061 round bar weigh the same as a al 6061 part of a different shape?
No, and the difference is larger than most people expect. At equal nominal size, a square bar is 27.3 % heavier than a round bar, and a hollow section is typically 60–80 % lighter than the solid bar it replaces. Weight follows area, and area changes faster than dimensions do — which is exactly why this needs calculating rather than estimating.
Should I use AL 6061 weight or carbon steel weight for costing?
Use the material you are actually buying. At 2,700 kg/m³ against carbon steel's 7,850 kg/m³, the same round bar differs by 65.6 % in mass. On a per-metre quote that is invisible; on a fabricated tonnage it is the difference between a margin and a loss. This page computes the steel figure as 3.853 kg/m for comparison.
Other materials, same round bar
The same geometry in every material, so the only variable is density.
- Carbon steel round bar — 7850 kg/m³
- SS 304 round bar — 8000 kg/m³
- SS 316 round bar — 8000 kg/m³
- Copper round bar — 8940 kg/m³
- Brass round bar — 8500 kg/m³
- HDPE round bar — 960 kg/m³
- PVC round bar — 1400 kg/m³
- AL 5052 round bar — 2680 kg/m³
Other AL 6061 sections
The same density applied to every shape the site covers.
- AL 6061 square bar — A = a²
- AL 6061 hexagonal bar — A = (√3/2) · AF² ≈ 0.8660 · AF²
- AL 6061 flat bar — A = w · t
- AL 6061 plate — A = w · t
- AL 6061 round tube — A = π/4 · (D² − d²), d = D − 2t
- AL 6061 square tube — A = a² − (a − 2t)²
Reference data and tools
- Metal weight overview — how the calculation works
- All 16 materials — densities and specifications
- All 10 sections — formulas and size series
- Density chart — lightest to heaviest
- Metal weight calculator — any size, any material
- All calculators — metal weight and pipe weight
- Download the data — CSV, generated from the same source
- Cross-reference tables — DN / NPS / material equivalents
- Methodology and sources — where every number comes from
Round Bar area from A = π/4 · d². Mass computed as area × length × density at 2,700 kg/m³ (ASTM B221 / B209 (T6 temper)). No weight on this page is copied from a published table — which is why figures can differ in the last significant digit from a mill's chart calculated at a nominal density.
- Elementary plane geometry. The circle, polygon and hollow-section area formulas.
- ASTM material specifications for each grade named in the material entry (A36, A240/A276, B209/B211/B221, B152/B16/B505, B265/B348, A48, B29, D1784, D3350).
- BIPM / NIST definitional constants: international inch = 25.4 mm, foot = 0.3048 m, pound = 0.45359237 kg.
Dataset version 2026.09.1 · dimensions last verified against source 2026-09-21. Found an error? Report it — corrections are issued with a version bump.