EN 1.3956 (GX4CrNiMnN22-12-5) Cast Stainless Steel
EN 1.3956 stainless steel is a duplex stainless steel formulated for casting. Cited properties are appropriate for the solution annealed (AT) condition. 1.3956 is the EN numeric designation for this material. GX4CrNiMnN22-12-5 is the EN chemical designation.
It has a fairly high base cost and the highest embodied energy among cast duplex stainless steels.
The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare EN 1.3956 stainless steel to: cast duplex 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.
Mechanical Properties
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
200 GPa 29 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
27 %
Fatigue Strength
240 MPa 35 x 103 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.28
Shear Modulus
79 GPa 11 x 106 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
650 MPa 94 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
330 MPa 48 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
300 J/g
Maximum Temperature: Corrosion
460 °C 860 °F
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
1080 °C 1970 °F
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1420 °C 2590 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1380 °C 2510 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
480 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Expansion
13 µm/m-K
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
22 % relative
Density
7.8 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
4.8 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
68 MJ/kg 29 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
180 L/kg 22 gal/lb
Common Calculations
PREN (Pitting Resistance)
34
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
150 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
270 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
14 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
25 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
23 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
21 points
Thermal Shock Resistance
18 points
Alloy Composition
Among cast stainless steels, the composition of EN 1.3956 stainless steel is notable for including vanadium (V) and containing a comparatively high amount of manganese (Mn). Vanadium has a strong hardening effect, but this effect is particularly sensitive to the type of tempering. Manganese is used to improve ductility at elevated temperatures. It also permits a higher nitrogen content than would otherwise be possible.
| Fe | 51.9 to 62.1 | |
| Cr | 20.5 to 23.5 | |
| Ni | 11.5 to 13.5 | |
| Mn | 4.0 to 6.0 | |
| Mo | 1.5 to 3.0 | |
| Si | 0 to 1.0 | |
| N | 0.2 to 0.4 | |
| Nb | 0.1 to 0.3 | |
| V | 0.1 to 0.3 | |
| C | 0 to 0.060 | |
| P | 0 to 0.040 | |
| S | 0 to 0.030 |
All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.
Followup Questions
Similar Alloys
Further Reading
ISO 19960: Cast steels and alloys with special physical properties
Duplex Stainless Steels, Iris Alvarez-Armas and Suzanne Degallaix-Moreuil (editors), 2009
Duplex Stainless Steels: Microstructure, Properties and Applications, Robert N. Gunn (editor), 1997
Advances in Stainless Steels, Baldev Raj et al. (editors), 2010
CRC Materials Science and Engineering Handbook, 4th ed., James F. Shackelford et al. (editors), 2015