Hardened SAE-AISI L3 vs. Hardened SAE-AISI M2
Both hardened SAE-AISI L3 and hardened SAE-AISI M2 are iron alloys. Both are furnished in the hardened (H) condition. They have 84% of their average alloy composition in common. There are 22 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is hardened SAE-AISI L3 and the bottom bar is hardened SAE-AISI M2.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 200 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.29 |
| Rockwell C Hardness | 69 | |
| 66 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 72 | |
| 77 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 2250 | |
| 2150 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 260 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1450 | |
| 1610 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1410 | |
| 1570 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 440 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 43 | |
| 22 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 10 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 2.5 | |
| 24 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 8.4 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.9 | |
| 8.8 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 27 | |
| 130 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 53 | |
| 98 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 23 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 80 | |
| 71 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 49 | |
| 44 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 12 | |
| 5.9 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 67 | |
| 76 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 1.0 to 1.1 | |
| 0.78 to 1.1 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 1.3 to 1.7 | |
| 3.8 to 4.5 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 95.5 to 97.3 | |
| 78.5 to 83.4 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.25 to 0.8 | |
| 0.15 to 0.4 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 4.5 to 5.5 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.1 to 0.5 | |
| 0.2 to 0.45 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Tungsten (W), % | 0 | |
| 5.5 to 6.8 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0.1 to 0.3 | |
| 1.8 to 2.2 |