ASTM A285 Carbon Steel vs. AISI 316L Stainless Steel
Both ASTM A285 carbon steel and AISI 316L 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 A285 carbon steel and the bottom bar is AISI 316L stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 110 to 130 | |
| 170 to 350 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 30 to 34 | |
| 9.0 to 50 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 150 to 180 | |
| 170 to 450 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 78 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 250 to 290 | |
| 370 to 690 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 380 to 450 | |
| 530 to 1160 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 190 to 230 | |
| 190 to 870 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 870 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1470 | |
| 1400 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 to 1430 | |
| 1380 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 53 | |
| 15 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 16 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.0 | |
| 2.3 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.0 | |
| 2.6 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
| 19 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 3.9 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 18 | |
| 53 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 46 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 110 | |
| 77 to 230 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 94 to 150 | |
| 93 to 1880 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 to 16 | |
| 19 to 41 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 15 to 17 | |
| 18 to 31 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 4.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 14 | |
| 12 to 25 |