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Zamak 3 vs. Silicon Nitride

Zamak 3 and silicon nitride belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Zamak 3 is a metal, while silicon nitride is a ceramic material. 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 (29, 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 silicon nitride.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 410
600 to 2950
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 86
140 to 310
Fracture Toughness, MPa-m1/2 12
3.1 to 6.2
Poisson's Ratio 0.25
0.24 to 0.27

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 95
1000 to 1330
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 410
720 to 800
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 110
12 to 31
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 27
2.5 to 3.2

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 6.4
2.2 to 3.4

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 7.5
34 to 53
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 23
65 to 78
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 43
7.5 to 13