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AISI 316 Stainless Steel vs. Thermoset PI

AISI 316 stainless steel and thermoset PI belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 316 stainless steel is a metal, while thermoset PI is a polymeric material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 10 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (40, 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 thermoset PI.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Material Properties

Density, g/cm3 7.9
1.4 to 1.6
Elongation at Break, % 8.0 to 55
2.0 to 5.9
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 590
260
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
1130
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 41
6.5 to 16
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 31
16 to 30
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 520 to 1180
37 to 81
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 15
0.29 to 1.7
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.1
0.18 to 0.95
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 16
38 to 54