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Zamak 2 vs. Bamboo Plywood

Zamak 2 and bamboo plywood belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Zamak 2 is a metal, while bamboo plywood is a polymeric material. 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 (20, 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 Zamak 2 and the bottom bar is bamboo plywood.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 640
80
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 87
18
Elongation at Break, % 6.0
3.0
Poisson's Ratio 0.26
0.39
Shear Modulus, GPa 33
1.3
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 360
40

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 410
1680
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 110
0.17
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 28
4.0

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 6.5
0.7

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 7.5
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 23
120
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 15
16
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 17
37
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 41
0.14
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 11
40