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Thermal Linear Expansion of AISI 303 Stainless Steel

Heat Transfer Engineering
Thermodynamics
Engineering Physics

Thermal Linear Expansion of AISI 303 Stainless Steel

AISI 303 stainless steel, which is a modification of the basic 18-8 austenitic stainless steel, contains higher amounts of phosphorous (0.20% max) and sulfur (0.15% min.). The high sulfur content makes it more machinable and possibly improves its ductility. The other variation of this steel is AISI 303Se stainless steel. This contains selenium (0.15%) which is added for the same reason given above. Since these elements are present in relatively small quantities (:0.20%), the thermal expansion of these steels are very close to that of the more common type, AISI 304, although their mechanical properties are quite different.

The recommended values are tabulated below. The uncertainty in the values of the thermal linear expansion, the mean coefficient, and the instantaneous coefficient is within ±5%, ±5%, and ±10%, respectively.

Thermal Linear Expansion of AISI 303 Stainless Steel

Temperature
(K)
Thermal Linear
Expansion
(%)
Instataneous
Coefficient of
Thermal Linear
Expansion
( 10-6 K-1 )
Mean
Coefficient of
Thermal Linear
Expansion
( 10-6 K-1 )

10
-0.338
1.10
11.94
20
-0.334
7.85
12.23
30
-0.325
8.72
12.36
40
-0.316
9.31
12.49
50
-0.307
9.78
12.63
60
-0.297
10.17
12.75
70
-0.286
10.49
12.83
80
-0.276
10.80
12.96
90
-0.265
11.09
13.05
100
-0.254
11.39
13.16
150
-0.194
12.38
13.57
200
-0.130
13.22
13.98
250
-0.062
14.05
14.37
273
-0.029
14.38
14.57
293
0.000
14.71
--
300
0.010
14.90
14.78
350
0.086
15.60
15.18
400
0.167
16.27
15.61
500
0.338
17.50
16.33
600
0.519
18.58
16.91
700
0.709
19.49
17.42
800
0.907
20.20
17.89
900
1.112
20.69
18.32
1000
1.323
21.04
18.71
1100
1.536
21.25
19.03
1200
1.748
21.36
19.27
1300
1.959
21.40
19.45
1400
2.171
21.45
19.61
1500
2.386*
21.52*
19.77*
1600
2.601*
21.61*
19.90*
1670§
2.753*
21.69*
19.99*

* Extrapolated values.

Thermal Linear Expansion of AISi 303 Stainless Steel