AISI 304 Stainless Steel vs. Nickel 686
AISI 304 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while nickel 686 belongs to the nickel alloys. They have a modest 31% of their average alloy composition in common, which, by itself, doesn't mean much. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 304 stainless steel and the bottom bar is nickel 686.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 220 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 8.0 to 43 | |
| 51 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 210 to 440 | |
| 410 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 77 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 400 to 690 | |
| 560 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 580 to 1180 | |
| 780 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 230 to 860 | |
| 350 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 320 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 710 | |
| 980 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1450 | |
| 1380 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 1340 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 420 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 16 | |
| 9.8 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 17 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 2.4 | |
| 1.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 2.7 | |
| 1.4 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 15 | |
| 70 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 9.0 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.0 | |
| 12 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 43 | |
| 170 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 150 | |
| 300 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 86 to 250 | |
| 320 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 140 to 1870 | |
| 280 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 22 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 21 to 42 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 20 to 32 | |
| 21 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.2 | |
| 2.6 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 25 | |
| 21 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 18 to 20 | |
| 19 to 23 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 66.5 to 74 | |
| 0 to 5.0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 15 to 17 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 8.0 to 10.5 | |
| 49.5 to 63 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.75 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0.020 to 0.25 |
| Tungsten (W), % | 0 | |
| 3.0 to 4.4 |