SAE-AISI 1021 Steel vs. AISI 420 Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI 1021 steel and AISI 420 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 86% 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 SAE-AISI 1021 steel and the bottom bar is AISI 420 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 130 to 150 | |
| 190 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 17 to 27 | |
| 8.0 to 15 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 190 to 300 | |
| 220 to 670 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 76 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 310 to 320 | |
| 420 to 1010 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 480 to 530 | |
| 690 to 1720 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 260 to 450 | |
| 380 to 1310 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 280 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 620 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1510 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 1450 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 52 | |
| 27 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 10 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.0 | |
| 3.0 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.0 | |
| 3.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
| 7.5 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 7.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 2.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 18 | |
| 28 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 46 | |
| 100 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 84 to 110 | |
| 88 to 130 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 180 to 530 | |
| 380 to 4410 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 17 to 19 | |
| 25 to 62 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 17 to 18 | |
| 22 to 41 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 7.3 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 15 to 17 | |
| 25 to 62 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.18 to 0.23 | |
| 0.15 to 0.4 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 12 to 14 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 98.8 to 99.22 | |
| 82.3 to 87.9 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.6 to 0.9 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |