ASTM A387 Grade 21 Steel vs. AISI 316 Stainless Steel
Both ASTM A387 grade 21 steel and AISI 316 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 72% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 32 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 A387 grade 21 steel and the bottom bar is AISI 316 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 150 to 180 | |
| 160 to 360 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 21 | |
| 8.0 to 55 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 160 to 250 | |
| 210 to 430 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 74 | |
| 78 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 310 to 370 | |
| 350 to 690 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 500 to 590 | |
| 520 to 1180 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 230 to 350 | |
| 230 to 850 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 260 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 480 | |
| 590 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1470 | |
| 1400 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1430 | |
| 1380 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 41 | |
| 15 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 16 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.6 | |
| 2.3 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.8 | |
| 2.6 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 4.1 | |
| 19 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.8 | |
| 3.9 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 23 | |
| 53 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 62 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| PREN (Pitting Resistance) | 6.4 | |
| 26 |
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 84 to 110 | |
| 85 to 260 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 140 to 320 | |
| 130 to 1820 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 21 | |
| 18 to 41 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 18 to 20 | |
| 18 to 31 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 11 | |
| 4.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 14 to 17 | |
| 11 to 26 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.050 to 0.15 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 2.8 to 3.3 | |
| 16 to 18 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 94.4 to 96 | |
| 62 to 72 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.3 to 0.6 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.9 to 1.1 | |
| 2.0 to 3.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 10 to 14 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.025 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.025 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |