AISI 316L Stainless Steel vs. Tungsten Carbide
AISI 316L stainless steel and tungsten carbide belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 316L stainless steel is a metal, while tungsten carbide is a ceramic material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 14 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (26, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 316L stainless steel and the bottom bar is tungsten carbide.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 630 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.24 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 530 to 1160 | |
| 350 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 870 | |
| 1000 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 280 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 15 | |
| 85 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 16 | |
| 5.4 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 15 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 24 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 20 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 19 to 41 | |
| 6.6 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 18 to 31 | |
| 7.5 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.1 | |
| 21 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 25 | |
| 7.2 |