SAE-AISI 4340 Steel vs. AISI 316 Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI 4340 steel and AISI 316 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 71% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is SAE-AISI 4340 steel and the bottom bar is AISI 316 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 210 to 360 | |
| 160 to 360 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 12 to 22 | |
| 8.0 to 55 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 330 to 740 | |
| 210 to 430 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 78 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 430 to 770 | |
| 350 to 690 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 690 to 1280 | |
| 520 to 1180 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 470 to 1150 | |
| 230 to 850 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 430 | |
| 590 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1400 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 1380 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 44 | |
| 15 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 16 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.5 | |
| 2.3 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.6 | |
| 2.6 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 3.5 | |
| 19 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.7 | |
| 3.9 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 22 | |
| 53 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 53 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 79 to 170 | |
| 85 to 260 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 590 to 3490 | |
| 130 to 1820 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 24 to 45 | |
| 18 to 41 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 22 to 33 | |
| 18 to 31 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 12 | |
| 4.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 20 to 38 | |
| 11 to 26 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.38 to 0.43 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.7 to 0.9 | |
| 16 to 18 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 95.1 to 96.3 | |
| 62 to 72 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.6 to 0.8 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.2 to 0.3 | |
| 2.0 to 3.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 1.7 to 2.0 | |
| 10 to 14 |
| 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 0.75 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |