PEEK vs. Grade A Lava
PEEK and grade A lava belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. PEEK is a polymeric material, while grade A lava is ceramic. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 12 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (20, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is PEEK and the bottom bar is grade A lava.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 120 to 300 | |
| 76 to 170 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 150 to 330 | |
| 28 to 69 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 97 to 200 | |
| 6.9 to 21 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 330 | |
| 650 to 1130 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 1390 to 1700 | |
| 840 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 0.25 to 0.93 | |
| 2.0 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 15 to 52 | |
| 2.5 to 3.3 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.3 to 1.5 | |
| 2.3 to 2.5 |
| Water Absorption At Saturation, % | 0.22 to 0.5 | |
| 2.5 |
Common Calculations
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 20 to 41 | |
| 0.77 to 2.5 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 36 to 55 | |
| 3.2 to 7.3 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 0.1 to 0.51 | |
| 1.0 |