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AISI 316 Stainless Steel vs. Balsa

AISI 316 stainless steel and balsa belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 316 stainless steel is a metal, while balsa is a polymeric material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 14 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (24, 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 316 stainless steel and the bottom bar is balsa.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
3.0
Elongation at Break, % 8.0 to 55
1.2
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.38
Shear Modulus, GPa 78
0.23
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 520 to 1180
14

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
1700
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 15
0.1
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 16
6.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 7.9
0.13

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 41
30
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 31
99
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.1
0.45
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 11 to 26
51