S21904 Stainless Steel vs. C15900 Copper
S21904 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while C15900 copper belongs to the copper alloys. There are 29 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 S21904 stainless steel and the bottom bar is C15900 copper.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 110 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 17 to 51 | |
| 6.5 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 78 | |
| 43 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 510 to 620 | |
| 420 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 700 to 1000 | |
| 720 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 390 to 910 | |
| 240 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 210 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 980 | |
| 200 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 1080 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1350 | |
| 1030 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 390 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 14 | |
| 280 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 17 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 2.5 | |
| 48 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 2.9 | |
| 49 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 15 | |
| 30 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.7 | |
| 8.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.0 | |
| 2.8 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 43 | |
| 45 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 160 | |
| 310 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 160 to 310 | |
| 37 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 380 to 2070 | |
| 260 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 7.2 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 25 to 36 | |
| 23 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 23 to 29 | |
| 20 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 3.8 | |
| 80 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 15 to 21 | |
| 26 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 0 | |
| 0.76 to 0.84 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0.27 to 0.33 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 19 to 21.5 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 | |
| 97.5 to 97.9 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 59.5 to 67.4 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 8.0 to 10 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 5.5 to 7.5 | |
| 0 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0.15 to 0.4 | |
| 0 |
| Oxygen (O), % | 0 | |
| 0.4 to 0.54 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0.66 to 0.74 |