ASTM A266 Carbon Steel vs. AISI 304 Stainless Steel
Both ASTM A266 carbon steel and AISI 304 stainless steel are iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is ASTM A266 carbon steel and the bottom bar is AISI 304 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 150 to 180 | |
| 170 to 360 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 21 to 26 | |
| 8.0 to 43 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 170 to 200 | |
| 210 to 440 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 320 to 380 | |
| 400 to 690 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 500 to 600 | |
| 580 to 1180 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 230 to 290 | |
| 230 to 860 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 710 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1450 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 1400 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 51 to 52 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.1 | |
| 2.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.1 to 8.2 | |
| 2.7 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
| 15 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 3.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 18 to 19 | |
| 43 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 46 to 47 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 110 | |
| 86 to 250 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 140 to 230 | |
| 140 to 1870 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 21 | |
| 21 to 42 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 18 to 20 | |
| 20 to 32 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 4.2 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 16 to 19 | |
| 12 to 25 |