AISI 304 Stainless Steel vs. SAE-AISI M4 Steel
Both AISI 304 stainless steel and SAE-AISI M4 steel are iron alloys. They have 75% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 22 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (12, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 304 stainless steel and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI M4 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 200 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 77 | |
| 76 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 580 to 1180 | |
| 770 to 2150 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 260 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1450 | |
| 1610 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 1560 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 440 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 16 | |
| 25 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 17 | |
| 12 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 15 | |
| 25 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 8.3 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.0 | |
| 14 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 43 | |
| 210 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 150 | |
| 110 |
Common Calculations
| PREN (Pitting Resistance) | 20 | |
| 30 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 23 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 21 to 42 | |
| 26 to 72 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 20 to 32 | |
| 23 to 45 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.2 | |
| 6.9 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 25 | |
| 24 to 68 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 1.3 to 1.4 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 18 to 20 | |
| 3.8 to 4.8 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 66.5 to 74 | |
| 75.9 to 81.4 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.4 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 4.3 to 5.5 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 8.0 to 10.5 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.75 | |
| 0.2 to 0.45 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Tungsten (W), % | 0 | |
| 5.3 to 6.5 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 | |
| 3.8 to 4.5 |