Comparison of properties of nitinol and stainless steel

In many cases, nitinol is substituted in an application which has traditionally used stainless steel. In most cases, the nitinol is substituted to take advantage of its unique superelasticity or shape memory capabilities.

 Nitinol vs stainless steel
 Property Nitinol Stainless steel 
 Recovered elongation 8%  0.8% 
 Biocompatibility* Excellent  Fair 
 Effective modulus** approx. 48 GPa 193 GPa
 Torqueability Excellent  Poor 
 Density 6.45 g/cm3  8.03 g/cm3 
 Magnetic No  Yes 
 UTS approx 1,240 MPa  approx. 760 MPa 
 CTE Martensite - 6.6 x 10-6 cm/cm/deg.C  17.3 x 10-6 cm/cm/deg.C 
  Austenite - 11.0 x 10-6 cm/cm/deg.C  
 Resistivity 80 to 100 micro-ohm*cm  72 micro-ohm*cm 


*Please see nitinol compatibility for more information

** The modulus of nitinol is highly non-linear, and it is not nearly as stiff as stainless steel.