ASTM A372 Grade M Steel vs. AISI 316L Stainless Steel
Both ASTM A372 grade M steel and AISI 316L stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 73% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 32 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is ASTM A372 grade M steel and the bottom bar is AISI 316L stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 240 to 280 | |
| 170 to 350 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 18 to 21 | |
| 9.0 to 50 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 450 to 520 | |
| 170 to 450 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 78 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 510 to 570 | |
| 370 to 690 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 810 to 910 | |
| 530 to 1160 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 660 to 770 | |
| 190 to 870 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 450 | |
| 870 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1400 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 1380 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 46 | |
| 15 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 16 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 8.0 | |
| 2.3 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 9.1 | |
| 2.6 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 5.0 | |
| 19 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 2.0 | |
| 3.9 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 27 | |
| 53 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 61 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| PREN (Pitting Resistance) | 3.4 | |
| 26 |
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 160 | |
| 77 to 230 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 1140 to 1580 | |
| 93 to 1880 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 29 to 32 | |
| 19 to 41 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 24 to 27 | |
| 18 to 31 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 12 | |
| 4.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 24 to 27 | |
| 12 to 25 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.23 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 1.5 to 2.0 | |
| 16 to 18 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 92.5 to 95.1 | |
| 62 to 72 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.2 to 0.4 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.4 to 0.6 | |
| 2.0 to 3.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 2.8 to 3.9 | |
| 10 to 14 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.015 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 0 |