Fused Silica vs. PC
Fused silica and PC belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Fused silica is a ceramic material, while PC is polymeric. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 7 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (26, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is fused silica and the bottom bar is PC.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Material Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.2 | |
| 1.2 to 1.4 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 67 | |
| 92 to 160 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 720 | |
| 1000 to 1200 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 6.3 | |
| 15 to 30 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 14 | |
| 30 to 45 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 50 | |
| 66 to 160 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 0.5 | |
| 10 to 69 |