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AISI 316 (S31600) Stainless Steel

AISI 316 stainless steel is an austenitic stainless steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. 316 is the AISI designation for this material. S31600 is the UNS number. Additionally, the British Standard (BS) designation is 316S16.

This material is well established: the Further Reading section below cites a number of published standards, and that list is not necessarily exhaustive.

The properties of AISI 316 stainless steel include seven common variations. This page shows summary ranges across all of them. For more specific values, follow the links immediately below. The graph bars on the material properties cards further below compare AISI 316 stainless steel to: wrought austenitic stainless steels (top), all iron alloys (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.

1/16-Hard 316 Stainless Steel 1/8-Hard 316 Stainless Steel

Annealed 316 Stainless Steel Cold Finished 316 Stainless Steel

Half-Hard 316 Stainless Steel Hot Finished 316 Stainless Steel

Quarter-Hard 316 Stainless Steel

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness

160 to 360

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

200 GPa 29 x 10⁶ psi

Elongation at Break

8.0 to 55 %

Fatigue Strength

210 to 430 MPa 30 to 63 x 10³ psi

Poisson's Ratio

0.28

Reduction in Area

80 %

Rockwell B Hardness

Shear Modulus

78 GPa 11 x 10⁶ psi

Shear Strength

350 to 690 MPa 51 to 100 x 10³ psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

520 to 1180 MPa 76 to 170 x 10³ psi

Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)

230 to 850 MPa 33 to 120 x 10³ psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

290 J/g

Maximum Temperature: Corrosion

410 °C 770 °F

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical

590 °C 1090 °F

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1400 °C 2550 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1380 °C 2510 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

15 W/m-K 8.9 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

16 µm/m-K

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

2.3 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

2.6 % IACS

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

19 % relative

Calomel Potential

-50 mV

Density

7.9 g/cm³ 490 lb/ft³

Embodied Carbon

3.9 kg CO₂/kg material

Embodied Energy

53 MJ/kg 23 x 10³ BTU/lb

Embodied Water

150 L/kg 18 gal/lb

Common Calculations

PREN (Pitting Resistance)

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)

85 to 260 MJ/m³

Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)

130 to 1820 kJ/m³

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

14 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

25 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

18 to 41 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

18 to 31 points

Thermal Diffusivity

4.1 mm²/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

11 to 26 points

Alloy Composition

Among wrought stainless steels, the composition of AISI 316 stainless steel is notable for containing a comparatively high amount of nickel (Ni). Nickel is primarily used to achieve a specific microstructure. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on mechanical properties and certain types of corrosion.

Iron (Fe)Fe		62 to 72
Chromium (Cr)Cr		16 to 18
Nickel (Ni)Ni		10 to 14
Molybdenum (Mo)Mo		2.0 to 3.0
Manganese (Mn)Mn		0 to 2.0
Silicon (Si)Si		0 to 0.75
Nitrogen (N)N		0 to 0.1
Carbon (C)C		0 to 0.080
Phosphorus (P)P		0 to 0.045
Sulfur (S)S		0 to 0.030