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Alumina vs. Silica Aerogel

Both alumina and silica aerogel are oxide-based engineering ceramics. There are 11 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (16, 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 alumina and the bottom bar is silica aerogel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 220 to 370
0.0050
Poisson's Ratio 0.22 to 0.24
0.2
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 210 to 290
0.016

Thermal Properties

Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 14 to 30
0.016
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 6.7 to 8.2
2.0

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 3.4 to 4.1
0.1

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 35 to 53
0.028
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 57 to 62
57
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 14 to 23
0.044
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 28
1.4
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 4.9 to 14
110