Grade 304 and Grade 304L stainless steel

Key Properties

These properties are specified for flat rolled product (plate, sheet, and coil) in ASTM A240/A240M. Similar but not necessarily identical properties are specified for other products such as pipe and bar in their respective specifications.

Composition

Table 1. Typical composition ranges for 304-grade stainless steel

Grade		C	Mn	Si	P	S	Cr	Mo	Ni	N
304	min. max.	- 0.08	- 2.0	- 0.75	- 0.045	- 0.030	18.0 20.0	-	8.0 10.5	- 0.10
304L	min. max.	- 0.030	- 2.0	- 0.75	- 0.045	- 0.030	18.0 20.0	-	8.0 12.0	- 0.10
304H	min. max.	0.04 0.10	- 2.0	- 0.75	-0.045	- 0.030	18.0 20.0	-	8.0 10.5	-

 

Mechanical Properties

Table 2. Typical mechanical properties of 304-grade stainless steel

Grade	Tensile Strength (MPa) min	Yield Strength 0.2% Proof (MPa) min	Elongation (% in 50 mm) min	Hardness
				Rockwell B (HR B) max	Brinell (HB) max
304	515	205	40	92	201
304L	485	170	40	92	201
304H	515	205	40	92	201

 

304H also requires a grain size of ASTM No 7 or coarser.

Physical Properties

Table 3. Typical physical properties of 304-grade stainless steel in the annealed condition

Grade	Density (kg/m3)	Elastic Modulus (GPa)	Mean Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (μm/m/°C)			Thermal Conductivity (W/m.K)		Specific Heat 0-100 °C (J/kg.K)	Electrical Resistivity (nΩ.m)
			0-100 °C	0-315 °C	0-538 °C	at 100 °C	at 500 °C
304/L/H	8000	193	17.2	17.8	18.4	16.2	21.5	500	720