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Grade 350 Maraging Steel vs. Balsa

Grade 350 maraging steel and balsa belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Grade 350 maraging steel is a metal, while balsa is a polymeric material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 13 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (16, 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 grade 350 maraging steel and the bottom bar is balsa.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 750 to 2400
7.0
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
3.0
Elongation at Break, % 4.1 to 18
1.2
Poisson's Ratio 0.3
0.38
Shear Modulus, GPa 75
0.23
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 1140 to 2420
14

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 450
1700
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
6.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 8.2
0.13

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 38 to 82
30
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 29 to 49
99
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 35 to 74
51