EN 1.4301 Stainless Steel vs. ASTM A321 Carbon Steel
Both EN 1.4301 stainless steel and ASTM A321 carbon steel are iron alloys. They have 72% of their average alloy composition in common. 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 EN 1.4301 stainless steel and the bottom bar is ASTM A321 carbon steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 190 to 270 | |
| 190 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 14 to 46 | |
| 21 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 200 to 330 | |
| 270 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 77 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 430 to 550 | |
| 420 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 610 to 900 | |
| 670 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 220 to 570 | |
| 390 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 940 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1430 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1380 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 15 | |
| 51 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 16 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 2.4 | |
| 7.1 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 2.7 | |
| 8.1 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 15 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.0 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 43 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 140 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 110 to 220 | |
| 120 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 120 to 820 | |
| 400 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 22 to 32 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 20 to 27 | |
| 22 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.0 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 14 to 20 | |
| 21 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.070 | |
| 0 to 0.55 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 17.5 to 19.5 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 66.8 to 74.5 | |
| 98.1 to 99.25 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0.6 to 0.9 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 8.0 to 10.5 | |
| 0 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 1.0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.015 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |