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MDF vs. Marble

MDF and marble belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. MDF is a polymeric material, while marble is ceramic. 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 (2, 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 MDF and the bottom bar is marble.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 10
540
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 4.0
54
Poisson's Ratio 0.25
0.2
Shear Modulus, GPa 2.5
27
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 18
9.0

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1700
870
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.3
3.1
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
21

Electrical Properties

Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm 0.5
8.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.75
2.7

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 3.0
11
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 71
47
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 6.7
0.93
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20
3.6
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.24
1.3
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 27
0.57