Comparison with carbon steel
1. Density
The density of carbon steel is slightly higher than that of ferritic and martensitic stainless steels, but slightly lower than that of austenitic stainless steels;
2. Resistivity
The resistivity increases according to the sequence of carbon steel, ferrite, martensite and austenitic stainless steel;
3. The order of linear expansion coefficient is similar, austenitic stainless steel is the highest and carbon steel is the lowest;
4. Carbon steel, ferritic and martensitic stainless steels are magnetic, while austenitic stainless steels are nonmagnetic. However, magnetism will be generated when cold work hardening generates martensitic transformation. Heat treatment can be used to eliminate this martensitic structure and restore its nonmagnetism.
Austenitic stainless steel has the following characteristics compared with carbon steel:
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.
