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Zamak 3 vs. Grade A Lava

Zamak 3 and grade A lava belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Zamak 3 is a metal, while grade A lava is a ceramic material. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 10 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (31, 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 grade A lava.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Material Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 410
76 to 170
Density, g/cm3 6.4
2.3 to 2.5
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 95
650 to 1130
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 410
840
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 12
0.77 to 2.5
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 15
3.2 to 7.3
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 280
6.9 to 21
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 110
2.0
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 43
1.0
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 27
2.5 to 3.3