Balsa vs. CAB

Balsa belongs to the wood-based materials classification, while CAB belongs to the thermoplastics. There are 10 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (19, 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 CAB.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Material Properties

Density, g/cm³		0.13
Density, g/cm³		1.2

Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm		4.9
Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm		15

Elongation at Break, %		1.2
Elongation at Break, %		50 to 55

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K		1700
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K		1460

Strength to Weight: Axial, points		30
Strength to Weight: Axial, points		4.8 to 12

Strength to Weight: Bending, points		99
Strength to Weight: Bending, points		14 to 25

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa		14
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa		20 to 50

Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K		0.1
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K		0.25

Thermal Diffusivity, mm²/s		0.45
Thermal Diffusivity, mm²/s		0.14 to 0.15

Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K		6.5
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K		14

Balsa vs. CAB

Material Properties

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