Thermal Conductivity Of Steel??

Hey does anyone know how thermally conductive steel is? Is it better/worse than alu. I need this info b/c might use it as a shim cause my dad got me a couple pieces from his work its a 2" square i think maybe 3/8" - 1/2" thick (2 diff pieces)

I've read somewhere that the thermal conductivity of steel is quite a bit worse than aluminum. I think that it's quite poor in general too.

Aluminum has a thermal conductivity of 225.94 w/mK, copper 397.48 w/mK and steel ranges between 41 to 46 w/mK depending on the alloy.

Colin (Jul 03, 2001 10:01 a.m.):
Aluminum has a thermal conductivity of 225.94 w/mK, copper 397.48 w/mK and steel ranges between 41 to 46 w/mK depending on the alloy.

Click to expand...

thanks for that info to show exactly how much worse steel it compared to alu and cu...so i'm not gonna use them..maybe as paperweights theyre pretty heavy for their size =)

Thermal Properties of Materials
Thermal Conductivity, W/cm-K
Metals
Aluminum 2.165
Beryllium 1.772
Beryllium-copper 1.063
Brass 70% copper, 30% zinc 1.220
Copper 3.937
Gold 2.913
Iron .669
Lead .343
Magnesium 1.575
Molybdenum 1.299
Monel .197
Nickel .906
Platinum .734
Silver 4.173
Stainless Steel-321 .146
Stainless Steel-410 .240
Steel, low carbon .669
Tin .630
Titanium .157
Tungsten 1.969
Zinc 1.024
Semiconductors
GaAs .591
Silicon (pure) 1.457
Silicon (.0025 ohm-cm) .984

Silicon Dioxide (amorphous) .014
Silicon Dioxide (quartz) c-axis .11
Silicon Dioxide (quartz) a-axis .059
Silicon Nitride .16 - .33
Silicon Carbide .90
Insulators
Air (still) .0003
Sapphire c-axis .35
Sapphire a-axis .32
Alumina .276
Alumina 85% .118
Beryllia 99.5% 1.969
Beryllia 97% 1.575
Beryllia 95% 1.161
Boron Nitride (hot pressed) .394
Diamond (room temperature) 6.299
Diamond (77 K) 24.
Diamond (room temperature, isotopically pure) 50.
Epoxy .002
Thermally conductive epoxy .008
Glass .008
Heat sink compound (metal oxide loaded grease) .004
Mica .007
Mylar .002
Phenolic .002
Silicone Grease .002
Silicone Rubber .002
Teflon .002
FR-4 or G-10 PC board material .003
water .0055
Liquid Helium (4.2K) .000307
Liquid Nitrogen (77K) .001411
Liquid Argon (85K) .001258
Thermally Conductive Elastomers
Bergquist Sil-pads .009
Tecknit Consil-C 871 .023
Tecknit Consil-R 350 .00433 to .00732
Saracon 2.9e-3 cal/cm-sec-K
Chomerics XTS-274 alumina filled elastomer .002 cal/sec cm K
Cho-seal 1224 .038
Cho-therm .0433
Cho-therm 1678 .018
Cho-therm 1671 .027