Grade VDC Steel vs. AISI 321 Stainless Steel
Both grade VDC steel and AISI 321 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 71% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is grade VDC steel and the bottom bar is AISI 321 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 510 | |
| 170 to 210 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 80 | |
| 77 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 1700 | |
| 590 to 690 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 870 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1450 | |
| 1430 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1410 | |
| 1400 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 51 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.1 | |
| 2.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.1 | |
| 2.7 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.9 | |
| 16 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 3.2 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 19 | |
| 45 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 47 | |
| 140 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 60 | |
| 21 to 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 40 | |
| 20 to 22 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 4.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 50 | |
| 13 to 15 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.6 to 0.75 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 17 to 19 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.060 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 98.3 to 99.35 | |
| 65.3 to 74 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.5 to 1.0 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 9.0 to 12 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.020 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.15 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.020 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.7 |