Carbon-carbon vs. Epoxy
Carbon-carbon and epoxy belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Carbon-carbon is a ceramic material, while epoxy 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 (11, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is carbon-carbon and the bottom bar is epoxy.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 95 | |
| 2.4 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.32 | |
| 0.4 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 36 | |
| 0.85 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 19 | |
| 67 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 2400 | |
| 130 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 760 | |
| 1500 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 40 | |
| 0.2 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 4.0 | |
| 100 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude, 10x Ω-m | -5.0 | |
| 13 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.7 | |
| 1.3 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 31 | |
| 1.0 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 89 | |
| 34 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 3.0 | |
| 14 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 9.1 | |
| 28 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 31 | |
| 0.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 3.5 | |
| 20 |