Graphite vs. Zirconia
Graphite belongs to the non-oxide engineering ceramics classification, while zirconia belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics. There are 13 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, 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 graphite and the bottom bar is zirconia.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 90 | |
| 1260 to 3080 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 21 | |
| 190 to 200 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 80 | |
| 630 to 970 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 18 | |
| 410 to 450 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 220 | |
| 500 to 1330 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 6.0 | |
| 2.2 to 4.3 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 4.9 | |
| 8.8 to 9.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.8 | |
| 5.7 to 6.0 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 6.7 | |
| 19 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 53 | |
| 33 to 34 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 2.9 | |
| 19 to 22 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 8.7 | |
| 21 to 23 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 | |
| 15 to 19 |