Physical properties of 300 series stainless steels tend to be fairly similar, and the typical physical prop­erties of 316L stainless steel are given in Tables 1 and 2.1- The 316L stainless steel has a density at room temperature of 8000 kg m-3 and a melting temperature of slightly above 1400 °C (Table 1). The elastic (Young’s) modulus at room tempera­ture is 190-200 GPa, which is typical of a range of engineering alloys, including ferritic steels and solid-solution Ni-based superalloys. At 100 °C, the coefficient of thermal expansion of 316L is about 16 x 10-6cm cm-1 °C-1 (Table 2), and values of that property may vary by up to 3-4% for types 316 and 347 steels. The 300 series stainless steels

have much more thermal expansion than martensi — tic/ferritic steels or Ni-based superalloys, with the thermal expansion of 316L at 100 °C being about
50% higher than that of type 410 ferritic steel.3 The thermal conductivity of 316L stainless steel at 100 °C is 16.3 W mK~ , which is to the higher end of the range for such alloys, with type 316 or 347 steel having 15-30% lower thermal conductivity. Thermal con­ductivity of 300 series stainless steels is lower than that of ferritic steels or Ni-based superalloys. If the 300 series stainless steel is fully (100%) austenitic, such as 316 or 347, then it has no ferromagnetic behavior, but if it contains ferromagnetic phases (like delta-ferrite or martensite), then such steels have some degree of ferromagnetic behavior. Adding nitrogen to 316L produces fully stable austenitic phase structures.