SAE-AISI 4340 Steel vs. S46500 Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI 4340 steel and S46500 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 78% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is SAE-AISI 4340 steel and the bottom bar is S46500 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 12 to 22 | |
| 2.3 to 14 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 330 to 740 | |
| 550 to 890 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 75 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 430 to 770 | |
| 730 to 1120 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 690 to 1280 | |
| 1260 to 1930 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 470 to 1150 | |
| 1120 to 1810 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 280 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 430 | |
| 780 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1450 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 1410 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 11 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 3.5 | |
| 15 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.7 | |
| 3.6 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 22 | |
| 51 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 53 | |
| 120 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 79 to 170 | |
| 43 to 210 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 24 to 45 | |
| 44 to 68 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 22 to 33 | |
| 33 to 44 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 20 to 38 | |
| 44 to 67 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.38 to 0.43 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.7 to 0.9 | |
| 11 to 12.5 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 95.1 to 96.3 | |
| 72.6 to 76.1 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.6 to 0.8 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.2 to 0.3 | |
| 0.75 to 1.3 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 1.7 to 2.0 | |
| 10.7 to 11.3 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.035 | |
| 0 to 0.015 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.15 to 0.35 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 1.5 to 1.8 |