Grey Cast Iron vs. AISI 321 Stainless Steel
Both grey cast iron and AISI 321 stainless steel are iron alloys. They have 71% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is grey cast iron and the bottom bar is AISI 321 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 160 to 300 | |
| 170 to 210 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 180 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.6 | |
| 34 to 50 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 69 to 170 | |
| 220 to 270 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 180 to 610 | |
| 420 to 460 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 160 to 450 | |
| 590 to 690 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 98 to 290 | |
| 220 to 350 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 280 | |
| 290 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1380 | |
| 1430 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1180 | |
| 1400 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 490 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 46 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 11 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.4 | |
| 2.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.9 | |
| 2.7 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.9 | |
| 16 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.5 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.5 | |
| 3.2 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 21 | |
| 45 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 44 | |
| 140 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 13 to 37 | |
| 190 to 230 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 27 to 240 | |
| 130 to 310 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 5.8 to 17 | |
| 21 to 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 8.7 to 17 | |
| 20 to 22 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 13 | |
| 4.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 6.0 to 17 | |
| 13 to 15 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 3.1 to 3.4 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 17 to 19 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 92.1 to 93.9 | |
| 65.3 to 74 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.5 to 0.7 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 9.0 to 12 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.9 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 2.5 to 2.8 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.7 |