ASTM A36 Carbon Steel vs. PEEK
ASTM A36 carbon steel and PEEK belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. ASTM A36 carbon steel is a metal, while PEEK is a polymeric material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 16 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (28, 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 ASTM A36 carbon steel and the bottom bar is PEEK.
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 4.0 to 24 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 22 | |
| 1.6 to 43 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 300 | |
| 50 to 100 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 480 | |
| 97 to 200 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 330 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 340 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 1390 to 1700 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 50 | |
| 0.25 to 0.93 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 11 | |
| 15 to 52 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 1.3 to 1.5 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 1.5 to 10 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 36 to 73 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 17 | |
| 20 to 41 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 17 | |
| 36 to 55 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 0.1 to 0.51 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 16 | |
| 34 to 57 |