ASTM A203 Nickel Steel
ASTM A203 steel is an alloy steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. It has a fairly high thermal conductivity among the wrought alloy steels in the same category in the database.
The properties of ASTM A203 steel include five 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 ASTM A203 steel to: wrought alloy steels in the same category (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
160 to 180
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
190 GPa 27 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
22 to 26 %
Fatigue Strength
210 to 280 MPa 31 to 40 x 103 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.29
Shear Modulus
73 GPa 11 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
330 to 370 MPa 48 to 54 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
520 to 590 MPa 75 to 85 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
290 to 390 MPa 42 to 57 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
250 J/g
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
410 °C 760 to 770 °F
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1460 °C 2660 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1420 °C 2580 to 2590 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
52 W/m-K 30 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
13 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
7.4 to 7.6 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
8.5 to 8.7 % IACS
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
3.2 to 4.0 % relative
Density
7.9 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
1.6 to 1.7 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
21 to 23 MJ/kg 9.1 to 9.8 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
50 to 52 L/kg 5.9 to 6.2 gal/lb
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
110 to 120 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
230 to 410 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
13 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
24 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
18 to 21 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
18 to 20 points
Thermal Diffusivity
14 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
15 to 17 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
ASTM A203: Standard Specification for Pressure Vessel Plates, Alloy Steel, Nickel
Pressure Vessels: External Pressure Technology, 2nd ed., Carl T. F. Ross, 2011
Manufacture and Uses of Alloy Steels, Henry D. Hibbard, 2005
Ferrous Materials: Steel and Cast Iron, Hans Berns and Werner Theisen, 2008
Steels: Processing, Structure, and Performance, 2nd ed., George Krauss, 2015