SAE-AISI 1040 Steel vs. AISI 301L Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI 1040 steel and AISI 301L stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 75% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is SAE-AISI 1040 steel and the bottom bar is AISI 301L stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 160 to 180 | |
| 210 to 320 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 13 to 20 | |
| 22 to 50 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 220 to 340 | |
| 240 to 530 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 350 to 390 | |
| 440 to 660 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 570 to 640 | |
| 620 to 1040 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 320 to 530 | |
| 250 to 790 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 280 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 890 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1430 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 1390 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 51 | |
| 15 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 16 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.0 | |
| 2.3 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.0 | |
| 2.7 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
| 13 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 2.7 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 18 | |
| 39 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 46 | |
| 130 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 79 to 96 | |
| 210 to 300 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 270 to 760 | |
| 160 to 1580 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 20 to 23 | |
| 22 to 37 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 19 to 21 | |
| 21 to 29 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 4.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 18 to 20 | |
| 14 to 24 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.37 to 0.44 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 16 to 18 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 98.6 to 99.03 | |
| 70.7 to 78 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.6 to 0.9 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 6.0 to 8.0 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |