Borosilicate Glass vs. Phenolic
Borosilicate glass and phenolic belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Borosilicate glass is a ceramic material, while phenolic is polymeric. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 16 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (17, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is borosilicate glass and the bottom bar is phenolic.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 67 to 80 | |
| 3.8 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 280 | |
| 48 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 360 | |
| 150 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 830 | |
| 1400 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 1.2 | |
| 0.25 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 3.3 to 5.1 | |
| 120 |
Electrical Properties
| Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz | 5.4 | |
| 7.5 |
| Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm | 5.0 to 34 | |
| 46 |
| Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude, 10x Ω-m | 9.0 to 12 | |
| 11 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.2 to 2.6 | |
| 1.3 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 to 17 | |
| 1.6 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 55 to 61 | |
| 40 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 30 to 35 | |
| 10 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 36 to 43 | |
| 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 0.54 to 0.63 | |
| 0.14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 50 to 91 | |
| 7.5 |