EN 1.4945 (X6CrNiWNbN16-16) Stainless Steel
EN 1.4945 stainless steel is an austenitic stainless steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. 1.4945 is the EN numeric designation for this material. X6CrNiWNbN16-16 is the EN chemical designation.
It has the highest electrical conductivity among wrought austenitic stainless steels. In addition, it has a fairly high base cost and a fairly high embodied energy.
The properties of EN 1.4945 stainless steel include two common variations. This page shows summary ranges across both of them. For more specific values, follow the links immediately below. The graph bars on the material properties cards further below compare EN 1.4945 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
200 to 220
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
200 GPa 29 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
19 to 34 %
Fatigue Strength
230 to 350 MPa 33 to 50 x 103 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.28
Shear Modulus
77 GPa 11 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
430 to 460 MPa 62 to 66 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
640 to 740 MPa 93 to 110 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
290 to 550 MPa 41 to 80 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
290 J/g
Maximum Temperature: Corrosion
520 °C 960 °F
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
920 °C 1680 °F
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1490 °C 2710 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1440 °C 2620 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
14 W/m-K 8.1 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
17 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
2.9 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
3.2 % IACS
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
30 % relative
Density
8.1 g/cm3 510 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
5.0 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
73 MJ/kg 31 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
150 L/kg 18 gal/lb
Common Calculations
PREN (Pitting Resistance)
23
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
130 to 180 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
210 to 760 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
14 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
24 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
22 to 25 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
20 to 22 points
Thermal Diffusivity
3.7 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
14 to 16 points
Alloy Composition
Among wrought stainless steels, the composition of EN 1.4945 stainless steel is notable for including tungsten (W) and niobium (Nb). Tungsten interacts with other alloying elements to a greater extent than usual, which makes it hard to broadly characterize its effects. Niobium is primarily used to improve yield strength, particularly at elevated temperatures.
| Fe | 57.9 to 65.7 | |
| Ni | 15.5 to 17.5 | |
| Cr | 15.5 to 17.5 | |
| W | 2.5 to 3.5 | |
| Nb | 0.4 to 1.2 | |
| Mn | 0 to 1.5 | |
| Si | 0.3 to 0.6 | |
| N | 0.060 to 0.14 | |
| C | 0.040 to 0.1 | |
| P | 0 to 0.035 | |
| S | 0 to 0.015 |
All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.
Followup Questions
Similar Alloys
Further Reading
EN 10302: Creep resisting steels, nickel and cobalt alloys
EN 10088-1: Stainless steels - Part 1: List of stainless steels
Welding Metallurgy of Stainless Steels, Erich Folkhard et al., 2012
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
Properties and Selection: Irons, Steels and High Performance Alloys, ASM Handbook vol. 1, ASM International, 1993
Advances in Stainless Steels, Baldev Raj et al. (editors), 2010