MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

AISI 301 (S30100) Stainless Steel

AISI 301 stainless steel is an austenitic stainless steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. 301 is the AISI designation for this material. S30100 is the UNS number. Additionally, the British Standard (BS) designation is 301S21.

It can have the highest tensile strength among wrought austenitic stainless steels. In addition, it has a moderately low embodied energy and a moderately low base cost.

The properties of AISI 301 stainless steel include seven common variations. This page shows summary ranges across all of them. For more specific values, follow the links immediately below. The graph bars on the material properties cards further below compare AISI 301 stainless steel to: wrought austenitic stainless steels (top), all iron alloys (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness

190 to 440

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

200 GPa 28 x 106 psi

Elongation at Break

7.4 to 46 %

Fatigue Strength

210 to 600 MPa 31 to 88 x 103 psi

Poisson's Ratio

0.28

Shear Modulus

77 GPa 11 x 106 psi

Shear Strength

410 to 860 MPa 60 to 120 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

590 to 1460 MPa 85 to 210 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)

230 to 1080 MPa 33 to 160 x 103 psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

280 J/g

Maximum Temperature: Corrosion

410 °C 770 °F

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical

840 °C 1540 °F

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1420 °C 2590 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1400 °C 2550 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

480 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

16 W/m-K 9.0 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

17 µm/m-K

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

2.4 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

2.7 % IACS

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

13 % relative

Calomel Potential

-70 mV

Density

7.8 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

2.7 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

39 MJ/kg 17 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

130 L/kg 16 gal/lb

Common Calculations

PREN (Pitting Resistance)

18

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)

99 to 300 MJ/m3

Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)

130 to 2970 kJ/m3

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

14 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

25 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

21 to 52 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

20 to 37 points

Thermal Diffusivity

4.2 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

12 to 31 points

Alloy Composition

Among wrought stainless steels, the composition of AISI 301 stainless steel is notable for containing comparatively high amounts of nickel (Ni) and chromium (Cr). Nickel is primarily used to achieve a specific microstructure. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on mechanical properties and certain types of corrosion. Chromium is the defining alloying element of stainless steel. Higher chromium content imparts additional corrosion resistance.

Iron (Fe)Fe 70.7 to 78
Chromium (Cr)Cr 16 to 18
Nickel (Ni)Ni 6.0 to 8.0
Manganese (Mn)Mn 0 to 2.0
Silicon (Si)Si 0 to 1.0
Carbon (C)C 0 to 0.15
Nitrogen (N)N 0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P)P 0 to 0.045
Sulfur (S)S 0 to 0.030

All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.

Followup Questions

Similar Alloys

Further Reading

ASTM A666: Standard Specification for Annealed or Cold-Worked Austenitic Stainless Steel Sheet, Strip, Plate, and Flat Bar

ASTM A276: Standard Specification for Stainless Steel Bars and Shapes

ASTM A240: Standard Specification for Chromium and Chromium-Nickel Stainless Steel Plate, Sheet, and Strip for Pressure Vessels and for General Applications

Welding Metallurgy of Stainless Steels, Erich Folkhard et al., 2012

ASTM A959: Standard Guide for Specifying Harmonized Standard Grade Compositions for Wrought Stainless Steels

Corrosion of Austenitic Stainless Steels: Mechanism, Mitigation and Monitoring, H. S. Khatak and B. Raj (editors), 2002

Austenitic Stainless Steels: Microstructure and Mechanical Properties, P. Marshall, 1984

ASM Specialty Handbook: Stainless Steels, J. R. Davis (editor), 1994

Advances in Stainless Steels, Baldev Raj et al. (editors), 2010