Alumina vs. Hexagonal Boron Nitride
Alumina belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics classification, while hexagonal boron nitride belongs to the non-oxide engineering ceramics. There are 17 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (10, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is alumina and the bottom bar is hexagonal boron nitride.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 1920 to 2750 | |
| 21 to 250 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 220 to 370 | |
| 14 to 60 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 260 to 430 | |
| 18 to 140 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.22 to 0.24 | |
| 0.11 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 650 to 1730 | |
| 1030 to 2350 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 870 to 940 | |
| 840 to 1610 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 14 to 30 | |
| 29 to 96 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 6.7 to 8.2 | |
| 0.54 to 18 |
Electrical Properties
| Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz | 7.8 to 11 | |
| 4.0 to 4.4 |
| Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm | 8.9 to 12 | |
| 61 to 200 |
| Electrical Dissipation At 1 Hz | 0.00031 to 0.0011 | |
| 0.0017 |
| Electrical Dissipation At 1 MHz | 0.00049 to 0.0013 | |
| 0.00075 to 0.0018 |
| Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude, 10x Ω-m | 6.2 to 14 | |
| 13 to 15 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.4 to 4.1 | |
| 1.9 to 2.1 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 35 to 53 | |
| 4.1 to 18 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 57 to 62 | |
| 42 to 69 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 3.7 to 10 | |
| 9.9 to 34 |