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AISI 316 Stainless Steel vs. Silica Aerogel

AISI 316 stainless steel and silica aerogel belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. AISI 316 stainless steel is a metal, while silica aerogel is a ceramic material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 12 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (24, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 316 stainless steel and the bottom bar is silica aerogel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
0.0050
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.2
Shear Modulus, GPa 78
0.0030
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 520 to 1180
0.016

Thermal Properties

Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 15
0.016
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 16
2.0

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 7.9
0.1

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
0.028
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
57
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 41
0.044
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 31
1.4
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 11 to 26
110