SAE-AISI 4140 Steel vs. AISI 301 Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI 4140 steel and AISI 301 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 77% 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 4140 steel and the bottom bar is AISI 301 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 200 to 310 | |
| 190 to 440 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 11 to 26 | |
| 7.4 to 46 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 360 to 650 | |
| 210 to 600 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 410 to 660 | |
| 410 to 860 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 690 to 1080 | |
| 590 to 1460 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 590 to 990 | |
| 230 to 1080 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 280 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 420 | |
| 840 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1420 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 1400 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 43 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.3 | |
| 2.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.4 | |
| 2.7 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 2.4 | |
| 13 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.5 | |
| 2.7 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 20 | |
| 39 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 51 | |
| 130 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 74 to 180 | |
| 99 to 300 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 920 to 2590 | |
| 130 to 2970 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 25 to 38 | |
| 21 to 52 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 22 to 30 | |
| 20 to 37 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 12 | |
| 4.2 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 20 to 32 | |
| 12 to 31 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.38 to 0.43 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.8 to 1.1 | |
| 16 to 18 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 96.8 to 97.8 | |
| 70.7 to 78 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.75 to 1.0 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.15 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 6.0 to 8.0 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.035 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.15 to 0.35 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |