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.