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AISI 316L Stainless Steel vs. UHMW-PE

AISI 316L stainless steel and UHMW-PE belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 316L stainless steel is a metal, while UHMW-PE is a polymeric 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 (25, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 316L stainless steel and the bottom bar is UHMW-PE.

AISI 316L (S31603) Stainless SteelUltra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE)
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
0.8
Elongation at Break, % 9.0 to 50
400
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 530 to 1160
49

Thermal Properties

Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1380
130
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
1750
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 15
0.41
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 16
180

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 7.9
0.94

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
0.47
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
33
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 19 to 41
14
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 31
32
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.1
0.25
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12 to 25
25