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Alumina vs. PMMA

Alumina and PMMA belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Alumina is a ceramic material, while PMMA is polymeric. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 17 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (20, 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 alumina and the bottom bar is PMMA.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 1920 to 2750
120
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 220 to 370
3.2
Flexural Strength, MPa 260 to 430
110
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 210 to 290
71

Thermal Properties

Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 2040
180
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870 to 940
1260
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 14 to 30
0.19
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 6.7 to 8.2
76

Electrical Properties

Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 Hz 8.0 to 9.0
3.6
Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm 8.9 to 12
30

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 3.4 to 4.1
1.2

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 35 to 53
1.5
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 57 to 62
42
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 14 to 23
17
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 28
32
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 3.7 to 10
0.13
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 4.9 to 14
21