AISI 321 Stainless Steel vs. AWS BNi-1a
AISI 321 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while AWS BNi-1a belongs to the nickel alloys. They have a modest 29% of their average alloy composition in common, which, by itself, doesn't mean much. There are 19 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (15, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 321 stainless steel and the bottom bar is AWS BNi-1a.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 180 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.3 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 77 | |
| 70 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 590 to 690 | |
| 450 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 370 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1430 | |
| 1080 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 980 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 500 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 17 | |
| 12 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 16 | |
| 55 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 8.0 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.2 | |
| 8.8 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 45 | |
| 120 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 140 | |
| 240 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 21 to 25 | |
| 16 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 20 to 22 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 13 to 15 | |
| 15 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Boron (B), % | 0 | |
| 2.8 to 3.5 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 0 to 0.060 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 17 to 19 | |
| 13 to 15 |
| Cobalt (Co), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 65.3 to 74 | |
| 4.0 to 5.0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 9.0 to 12 | |
| 70.6 to 76.3 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Selenium (Se), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.0050 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.75 | |
| 4.0 to 5.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |