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AISI 316L (S31603) Stainless Steel

AISI 316L stainless steel is an austenitic stainless steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. 316L is the AISI designation for this material. S31603 is the UNS number. Additionally, the British Standard (BS) designation is 316S12.

This material is well established: the Further Reading section below cites a number of published standards, and that list is not necessarily exhaustive.

The properties of AISI 316L 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 316L 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

170 to 350

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

200 GPa 29 x 106 psi

Elongation at Break

9.0 to 50 %

Fatigue Strength

170 to 450 MPa 25 to 65 x 103 psi

Poisson's Ratio

0.28

Rockwell B Hardness

80

Shear Modulus

78 GPa 11 x 106 psi

Shear Strength

370 to 690 MPa 53 to 100 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

530 to 1160 MPa 77 to 170 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)

190 to 870 MPa 28 to 130 x 103 psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

290 J/g

Maximum Temperature: Corrosion

410 °C 770 °F

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical

870 °C 1600 °F

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1400 °C 2550 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1380 °C 2510 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

15 W/m-K 8.8 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

16 µm/m-K

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

2.3 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

2.6 % IACS

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

19 % relative

Calomel Potential

-50 mV

Density

7.9 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

3.9 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

53 MJ/kg 23 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

150 L/kg 18 gal/lb

Common Calculations

PREN (Pitting Resistance)

26

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)

77 to 230 MJ/m3

Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)

93 to 1880 kJ/m3

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

14 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

25 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

19 to 41 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

18 to 31 points

Thermal Diffusivity

4.1 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

12 to 25 points

Alloy Composition

Among wrought stainless steels, the composition of AISI 316L stainless steel is notable for containing a comparatively high amount of nickel (Ni). Nickel is primarily used to achieve a specific microstructure. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on mechanical properties and certain types of corrosion.

Iron (Fe)Fe 62 to 72
Chromium (Cr)Cr 16 to 18
Nickel (Ni)Ni 10 to 14
Molybdenum (Mo)Mo 2.0 to 3.0
Manganese (Mn)Mn 0 to 2.0
Silicon (Si)Si 0 to 0.75
Nitrogen (N)N 0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P)P 0 to 0.045
Carbon (C)C 0 to 0.030
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 A493: Standard Specification for Stainless Steel Wire and Wire Rods for Cold Heading and Cold Forging

ASTM A473: Standard Specification for Stainless Steel Forgings

ASTM A479: Standard Specification for Stainless Steel Bars and Shapes for Use in Boilers and Other Pressure Vessels

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

ASTM A182: Standard Specification for Forged or Rolled Alloy and Stainless Steel Pipe Flanges, Forged Fittings, and Valves and Parts for High-Temperature Service

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