AISI 321 Stainless Steel vs. AISI 304N Stainless Steel
Both AISI 321 stainless steel and AISI 304N stainless steel are iron alloys. They have a very high 98% of their average alloy composition in common.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 321 stainless steel and the bottom bar is AISI 304N stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 170 to 210 | |
| 190 to 360 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 200 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 34 to 50 | |
| 9.1 to 45 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 220 to 270 | |
| 220 to 440 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 77 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 420 to 460 | |
| 420 to 700 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 590 to 690 | |
| 620 to 1180 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 220 to 350 | |
| 270 to 850 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 290 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Corrosion, °C | 480 | |
| 420 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 870 | |
| 960 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1430 | |
| 1420 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 1380 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 480 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 16 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 17 | |
| 16 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 2.4 | |
| 2.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 2.7 | |
| 2.7 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 16 | |
| 15 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 3.2 | |
| 3.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 45 | |
| 43 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 140 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| PREN (Pitting Resistance) | 19 | |
| 21 |
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 190 to 230 | |
| 98 to 280 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 130 to 310 | |
| 180 to 1830 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 21 to 25 | |
| 22 to 42 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 20 to 22 | |
| 21 to 32 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 4.1 | |
| 4.2 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 13 to 15 | |
| 14 to 26 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 17 to 19 | |
| 18 to 20 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 65.3 to 74 | |
| 66.4 to 73.9 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 2.0 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 9.0 to 12 | |
| 8.0 to 10.5 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0.1 to 0.16 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.045 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.75 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 0 |