AISI 316L Stainless Steel vs. ASTM A321 Carbon Steel
Both AISI 316L stainless steel and ASTM A321 carbon steel are iron alloys. They have 68% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 316L stainless steel and the bottom bar is ASTM A321 carbon steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 170 to 350 | |
| 190 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.0 to 50 | |
| 21 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 170 to 450 | |
| 270 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 78 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 370 to 690 | |
| 420 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 530 to 1160 | |
| 670 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 190 to 870 | |
| 390 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 870 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1380 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 15 | |
| 51 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 16 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 2.3 | |
| 7.1 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 2.6 | |
| 8.1 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 19 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.9 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 53 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 150 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 77 to 230 | |
| 120 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 93 to 1880 | |
| 400 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 19 to 41 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 18 to 31 | |
| 22 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.1 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 25 | |
| 21 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.55 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 16 to 18 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 62 to 72 | |
| 98.1 to 99.25 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0.6 to 0.9 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 2.0 to 3.0 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 10 to 14 | |
| 0 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.75 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |