Physical properties of stainless steel

Compare with carbon steel
1. Density
The density of carbon steel is slightly higher than that of ferritic and martensitic stainless steel, but slightly lower than that of austenitic stainless steel;
2. Resistivity
The resistivity increases in order of carbon steel, ferritic, martensitic and austenitic stainless steel;
3. The order of linear expansion coefficient is also similar, austenitic stainless steel is the highest and carbon steel is the lowest;
4. Carbon steel, ferritic and martensitic stainless steel are magnetic, while austenitic stainless steel is non-magnetic, but it will produce magnetism when it is hardened by cold work to produce martensitic transformation. Heat treatment can be used to eliminate this martensitic structure and restore its non-magnetism.
Compared with carbon steel, austenitic stainless steel has the following characteristics:
1) High resistivity, about 5 times that of carbon steel.
2) The large coefficient of linear expansion is 40% larger than that of carbon steel, and the value of the coefficient of linear expansion increases with the increase of temperature.
3) Low thermal conductivity, about 1/3 of carbon steel.