Alumina vs. 2018 Aluminum
Alumina and 2018 aluminum belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Alumina is a ceramic material, while 2018 aluminum is a metal. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 15 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (27, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is alumina and the bottom bar is 2018 aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 220 to 370 | |
| 73 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.22 to 0.24 | |
| 0.33 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 210 to 290 | |
| 420 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 650 to 1730 | |
| 220 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 2040 | |
| 510 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 870 to 940 | |
| 870 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 14 to 30 | |
| 150 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 6.7 to 8.2 | |
| 22 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.4 to 4.1 | |
| 3.1 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 35 to 53 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 57 to 62 | |
| 45 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 14 to 23 | |
| 38 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 19 to 28 | |
| 41 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 3.7 to 10 | |
| 57 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 4.9 to 14 | |
| 19 |