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MDF vs. Silicon Nitride

MDF and silicon nitride belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. MDF is a polymeric material, while silicon nitride is ceramic. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 11 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (12, 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 silicon nitride.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 10
600 to 2950
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 4.0
140 to 310
Poisson's Ratio 0.25
0.24 to 0.27

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1700
720 to 800
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.3
12 to 31
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
2.5 to 3.2

Electrical Properties

Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm 0.5
18

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.75
2.2 to 3.4

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 3.0
34 to 53
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 71
65 to 78
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.24
7.5 to 13