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ABS vs. Boron Carbide

ABS and boron carbide belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. ABS is a polymeric material, while boron carbide is ceramic. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 10 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (18, 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 ABS and the bottom bar is boron carbide.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Material Properties

Density, g/cm3 1.0 to 1.4
2.1 to 2.7
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 2.0 to 2.6
240 to 460
Flexural Strength, MPa 72 to 97
170 to 410
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 0.79 to 1.4
63 to 100
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 30 to 44
91 to 100
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 10 to 22
37 to 47
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 24 to 37
42 to 53
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 37 to 110
350
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 81 to 95
4.5 to 5.6
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 11 to 50
9.7 to 20