SAE-AISI L6 Steel vs. S82121 Stainless Steel
Both SAE-AISI L6 steel and S82121 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 75% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 23 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is SAE-AISI L6 steel and the bottom bar is S82121 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.27 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 72 | |
| 78 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 670 to 2090 | |
| 730 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 290 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1450 | |
| 1430 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1410 | |
| 1380 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 42 | |
| 15 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 11 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.6 | |
| 2.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.7 | |
| 2.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 3.6 | |
| 14 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 2.0 | |
| 2.8 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 28 | |
| 40 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 54 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 24 to 74 | |
| 26 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 22 to 46 | |
| 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 11 | |
| 4.0 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 22 to 70 | |
| 20 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.65 to 0.75 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.6 to 1.2 | |
| 21 to 23 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0.2 to 1.2 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 93.6 to 97.3 | |
| 66.7 to 75.4 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.25 to 0.8 | |
| 1.0 to 2.5 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0.3 to 1.3 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 1.3 to 2.0 | |
| 2.0 to 4.0 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.25 |
| 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 0.010 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |