AISI 316 Stainless Steel vs. Zirconia
AISI 316 stainless steel and zirconia belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 316 stainless steel is a metal, while zirconia is a ceramic 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 (30, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 316 stainless steel and the bottom bar is zirconia.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 190 to 200 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.25 to 0.29 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 520 to 1180 | |
| 410 to 450 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 590 | |
| 500 to 1330 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 400 to 510 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 15 | |
| 2.2 to 4.3 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 16 | |
| 8.8 to 9.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 5.7 to 6.0 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 19 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 33 to 34 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 41 | |
| 19 to 22 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 18 to 31 | |
| 21 to 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.1 | |
| 0.73 to 1.8 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 11 to 26 | |
| 15 to 19 |