ASTM A732 Investment Cast Steel
ASTM A732 cast steel is an alloy steel formulated for casting. It can have the lowest ductility and the highest tensile strength among cast alloy steels.
The properties of ASTM A732 cast steel include 18 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 A732 cast steel to: cast alloy 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
140 to 440
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
190 GPa 27 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
4.0 to 25 %
Fatigue Strength
230 to 750 MPa 33 to 110 x 103 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.29
Shear Modulus
72 to 73 GPa 10 to 11 x 106 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
460 to 1470 MPa 67 to 210 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
310 to 1340 MPa 46 to 190 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
250 to 260 J/g
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
400 to 430 °C 750 to 810 °F
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1440 to 1460 °C 2630 to 2660 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1400 to 1420 °C 2560 to 2590 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
470 to 480 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
39 to 50 W/m-K 22 to 29 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
13 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
7.1 to 7.7 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
8.2 to 8.9 % IACS
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
2.0 to 3.8 % relative
Density
7.8 to 7.9 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
1.4 to 1.7 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
19 to 24 MJ/kg 8.2 to 10 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
47 to 54 L/kg 5.6 to 6.5 gal/lb
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
45 to 130 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
260 to 4770 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
13 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
24 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
16 to 52 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
17 to 37 points
Thermal Diffusivity
10 to 14 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
14 to 43 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
ASTM A732: Standard Specification for Castings, Investment, Carbon and Low Alloy Steel for General Application, and Cobalt Alloy for High Strength at Elevated Temperatures
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