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AISI 304 Stainless Steel vs. PLA

AISI 304 stainless steel and PLA belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 304 stainless steel is a metal, while PLA 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 304 stainless steel and the bottom bar is PLA.

AISI 304 (S30400) Stainless SteelPolylactic Acid (PLA, Polylactide)
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
3.5
Elongation at Break, % 8.0 to 43
6.0
Shear Modulus, GPa 77
2.4
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 580 to 1180
50

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 710
50
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1400
160
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
1800
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
0.13

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 7.8
1.3

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
1.6
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
40
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 42
11
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 32
24
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.2
0.058