Balsa vs. Silica Aerogel
Balsa and silica aerogel belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Balsa is a polymeric material, while silica aerogel is ceramic. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 11 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (6, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is balsa and the bottom bar is silica aerogel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 3.0 | |
| 0.0050 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.38 | |
| 0.2 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 0.23 | |
| 0.0030 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 14 | |
| 0.016 |
Thermal Properties
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 0.1 | |
| 0.016 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 6.5 | |
| 2.0 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 0.13 | |
| 0.1 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 0.028 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 30 | |
| 0.044 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 99 | |
| 1.4 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 51 | |
| 110 |