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Borosilicate Glass vs. Zamak 3

Borosilicate glass and Zamak 3 belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Borosilicate glass is a ceramic material, while Zamak 3 is a metal. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 18 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (28, 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 borosilicate glass and the bottom bar is Zamak 3.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 2000
410
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 67 to 80
86
Fracture Toughness, MPa-m1/2 0.8
12
Knoop Hardness 510
110
Poisson's Ratio 0.21
0.25
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 280
280

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 360
95
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 560
380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 830
410
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 1.2
110
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 3.3 to 5.1
27

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 2.2 to 2.6
6.4

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15 to 17
7.5
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 55 to 61
23
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 30 to 35
12
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 36 to 43
15
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.54 to 0.63
43
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 50 to 91
8.6