SAE-AISI A6 Steel vs. S15500 Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI A6 steel and S15500 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 78% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 24 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (12, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is SAE-AISI A6 steel and the bottom bar is S15500 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 190 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 75 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 750 to 1990 | |
| 890 to 1490 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 280 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 1430 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1410 | |
| 1380 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 41 | |
| 17 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 11 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.5 | |
| 2.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.7 | |
| 2.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 3.7 | |
| 13 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.8 | |
| 2.7 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 24 | |
| 39 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 57 | |
| 130 |
Common Calculations
| PREN (Pitting Resistance) | 4.8 | |
| 15 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 27 to 71 | |
| 32 to 53 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 23 to 45 | |
| 26 to 37 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 11 | |
| 4.6 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 25 to 65 | |
| 30 to 50 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.65 to 0.75 | |
| 0 to 0.070 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.9 to 1.2 | |
| 14 to 15.5 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 2.5 to 4.5 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 93 to 95.8 | |
| 71.9 to 79.9 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 1.8 to 2.5 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.9 to 1.4 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 3.5 to 5.5 |
| Niobium (Nb), % | 0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.45 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |