Zamak 3 vs. Zinc Selenide
Zamak 3 and zinc selenide belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Zamak 3 is a metal, while zinc selenide 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 (28, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is Zamak 3 and the bottom bar is zinc selenide.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Material Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 6.4 | |
| 5.3 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 86 | |
| 69 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 380 | |
| 1520 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.25 | |
| 0.28 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 410 | |
| 340 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 7.5 | |
| 7.3 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 23 | |
| 26 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 110 | |
| 17 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 43 | |
| 9.5 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 27 | |
| 7.3 |