Drawing No. EH–MT–024 // Engineering Materials
Stainless Steel Properties
Reviewed August 2026
Type 304 is the familiar 18Cr-8Ni austenitic stainless steel and is used here as the stainless-steel reference. It combines corrosion resistance and ductility with lower thermal conductivity and higher thermal expansion than carbon steel.
Representative properties
Switch units without changing the underlying material reference.
What changes these properties?
Engineering variability
- The stated strength values represent minimum/typical annealed 304-type data; cold-worked material can be much stronger.
- Thermal conductivity rises with temperature while elastic modulus generally falls.
- 304 has no single fixed ‘melting point’; alloy melting occurs over a solidus–liquidus interval.
- Corrosion resistance depends on environment, surface condition, fabrication and exact chemistry.
Selection note
A strong general-purpose choice for corrosion-resistant sheet, plate, vessels, piping and fabricated equipment, but not a substitute for alloy-specific corrosion selection.
Do not combine strength from one grade/condition with modulus, thermal data or temperature limits from another without checking compatibility. Where the overview shows a range, it is intended to expose variability—not establish allowable bounds.
Property interpretation
Stiffness vs strength
Young’s modulus controls elastic deformation. Yield or fracture strength controls how far the material can be stressed. These are separate material characteristics.
Thermal response
Thermal conductivity controls temperature gradients, specific heat contributes to thermal inertia, and expansion controls thermally induced strain when movement is restrained.
Temperature transition
The final property card is deliberately labeled “melting / transition.” Metals often have a solidus–liquidus range; amorphous polymers and glass use softening or glass-transition concepts; concrete and wood decompose instead of exhibiting one clean melt point.
Technical sources
Source hierarchy favors manufacturers, industry associations, standards bodies and government engineering references. Strength data must still be reconciled with the exact procurement specification.