Grade VDC Steel vs. Nuclear Grade Hafnium
Grade VDC steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while nuclear grade hafnium belongs to the otherwise unclassified metals. There are 13 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (17, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is grade VDC steel and the bottom bar is nuclear grade hafnium.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 78 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.26 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 80 | |
| 31 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 1700 | |
| 350 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 130 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 140 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 5.9 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 13 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 3.3 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 11 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 60 | |
| 7.4 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 40 | |
| 8.4 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 50 | |
| 55 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.6 to 0.75 | |
| 0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.060 | |
| 0 |
| Hafnium (Hf), % | 0 | |
| 99.8 to 100 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 98.3 to 99.35 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.5 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.020 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.15 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.020 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.23 |