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AISI 304 Stainless Steel vs. Graphite

AISI 304 stainless steel and graphite belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 304 stainless steel is a metal, while graphite is a ceramic material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 13 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (23, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 304 stainless steel and the bottom bar is graphite.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
21
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 580 to 1180
18

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Corrosion, °C 420
180
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 710
220
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
6.0
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
4.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Calomel Potential, mV -80
250
Density, g/cm3 7.8
1.8

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
6.7
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
53
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 42
2.9
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 32
8.7
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12 to 25
12