MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

Cork vs. Synthetic Sapphire

Cork and synthetic sapphire belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Cork is a polymeric material, while synthetic sapphire is ceramic. 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 (11, 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 cork and the bottom bar is synthetic sapphire.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 1.0
2700
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 0.020
450
Shear Modulus, GPa 0.010
150
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 0.85
2470

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 2000
760
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.040
30
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 200
5.3

Electrical Properties

Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm 1.5
9.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.15
4.0

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 0.074
63
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 60
64
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 1.6
170
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 13
100
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.13
9.9
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 16
74