ASTM A414 Pressure Vessel Steel
ASTM A414 steel is an alloy steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. It can have the lowest tensile strength among wrought alloy steels in the same category. In addition, it has a very low base cost and can have a moderately high thermal conductivity.
The properties of ASTM A414 steel include eight 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 A414 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
110 to 180
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
190 GPa 27 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
15 to 26 %
Fatigue Strength
140 to 260 MPa 21 to 38 x 103 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.29
Shear Modulus
73 GPa 11 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
230 to 370 MPa 34 to 53 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
360 to 590 MPa 53 to 85 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
190 to 350 MPa 28 to 51 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
250 J/g
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
400 °C 760 °F
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1460 °C 2660 to 2670 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1420 °C 2590 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
49 to 50 W/m-K 28 to 29 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
13 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
7.2 to 7.3 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
8.3 to 8.4 % IACS
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
2.2 % relative
Density
7.8 to 7.9 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
1.5 to 1.6 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
20 to 22 MJ/kg 8.4 to 9.4 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
48 L/kg 5.7 to 5.8 gal/lb
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
69 to 130 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
100 to 330 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
13 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
24 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
13 to 21 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
14 to 20 points
Thermal Diffusivity
13 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
11 to 17 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
ASTM A414: Standard Specification for Steel, Sheet, Carbon, and High-Strength, Low-Alloy for Pressure Vessels
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