AISI 304 Stainless Steel vs. ASTM A372 Grade M Steel
Both AISI 304 stainless steel and ASTM A372 grade M steel are iron alloys. They have 76% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 32 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 304 stainless steel and the bottom bar is ASTM A372 grade M steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 170 to 360 | |
| 240 to 280 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 8.0 to 43 | |
| 18 to 21 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 210 to 440 | |
| 450 to 520 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 77 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 400 to 690 | |
| 510 to 570 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 580 to 1180 | |
| 810 to 910 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 230 to 860 | |
| 660 to 770 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 710 | |
| 450 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1450 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 16 | |
| 46 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 17 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 2.4 | |
| 8.0 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 2.7 | |
| 9.1 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 15 | |
| 5.0 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.0 | |
| 2.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 43 | |
| 27 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 150 | |
| 61 |
Common Calculations
| PREN (Pitting Resistance) | 20 | |
| 3.4 |
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 86 to 250 | |
| 160 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 140 to 1870 | |
| 1140 to 1580 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 21 to 42 | |
| 29 to 32 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 20 to 32 | |
| 24 to 27 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.2 | |
| 12 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 25 | |
| 24 to 27 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 0 to 0.23 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 18 to 20 | |
| 1.5 to 2.0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 66.5 to 74 | |
| 92.5 to 95.1 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0.2 to 0.4 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.4 to 0.6 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 8.0 to 10.5 | |
| 2.8 to 3.9 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.015 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.75 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |