SAE-AISI 4140 Steel vs. AISI 303 Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI 4140 steel and AISI 303 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 73% 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 303 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 200 to 310 | |
| 170 to 210 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 11 to 26 | |
| 40 to 51 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 360 to 650 | |
| 230 to 360 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 410 to 660 | |
| 430 to 470 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 690 to 1080 | |
| 600 to 690 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 590 to 990 | |
| 230 to 420 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 420 | |
| 930 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1450 |
| 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 | |
| 2.8 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 2.4 | |
| 15 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.5 | |
| 3.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 20 | |
| 42 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 51 | |
| 140 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 74 to 180 | |
| 240 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 920 to 2590 | |
| 140 to 440 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 25 to 38 | |
| 21 to 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 22 to 30 | |
| 20 to 22 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 12 | |
| 4.4 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 20 to 32 | |
| 13 to 15 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.38 to 0.43 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.8 to 1.1 | |
| 17 to 19 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 96.8 to 97.8 | |
| 67.3 to 74.9 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.75 to 1.0 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.15 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 8.0 to 10 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.035 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.15 to 0.35 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |