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Balsa vs. Borosilicate Glass

Balsa and borosilicate glass belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Balsa is a polymeric material, while borosilicate glass is ceramic. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 14 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 balsa and the bottom bar is borosilicate glass.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 7.0
2000
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 3.0
67 to 80
Poisson's Ratio 0.38
0.21
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 14
280

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1700
830
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.1
1.2
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 6.5
3.3 to 5.1

Electrical Properties

Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm 4.9
5.0 to 34

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.13
2.2 to 2.6

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
15 to 17
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 30
30 to 35
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 99
36 to 43
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.45
0.54 to 0.63
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 51
50 to 91