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Zamak 3 vs. Fused Silica

Zamak 3 and fused silica belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Zamak 3 is a metal, while fused silica is a ceramic material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 18 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (26, 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 3 and the bottom bar is fused silica.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 410
1100
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 86
73
Knoop Hardness 110
570
Poisson's Ratio 0.25
0.17
Shear Modulus, GPa 33
31
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 280
50

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 95
1080
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 380
1900
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 410
720
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 110
1.4
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 27
0.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 6.4
2.2

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 7.5
18
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 23
63
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 12
6.3
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 15
14
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 43
0.85
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 8.6
97