ASTM A285 Carbon Steel vs. S21904 Stainless Steel
Both ASTM A285 carbon steel and S21904 stainless steel are iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is ASTM A285 carbon steel and the bottom bar is S21904 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 110 to 130 | |
| 210 to 300 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 30 to 34 | |
| 17 to 51 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 150 to 180 | |
| 380 to 550 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 78 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 250 to 290 | |
| 510 to 620 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 380 to 450 | |
| 700 to 1000 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 190 to 230 | |
| 390 to 910 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 980 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1470 | |
| 1400 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 to 1430 | |
| 1350 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 53 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.0 | |
| 2.5 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.0 | |
| 2.9 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
| 15 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 7.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 3.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 18 | |
| 43 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 46 | |
| 160 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 110 | |
| 160 to 310 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 94 to 150 | |
| 380 to 2070 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 to 16 | |
| 25 to 36 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 15 to 17 | |
| 23 to 29 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 3.8 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 14 | |
| 15 to 21 |