Hardwood vs. MDF
Both hardwood and MDF are wood-based materials.
For each property being compared, the top bar is hardwood and the bottom bar is MDF.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 40 | |
| 10 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 12 | |
| 4.0 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 2.0 | |
| 0.5 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.37 | |
| 0.25 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 0.9 | |
| 2.5 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 80 | |
| 18 |
Thermal Properties
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 1260 | |
| 1700 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 0.16 | |
| 0.3 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 6.0 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm | 0.5 | |
| 0.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 0.7 | |
| 0.75 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 9.5 | |
| 3.0 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 110 | |
| 71 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 32 | |
| 6.7 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 59 | |
| 20 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 0.18 | |
| 0.24 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 79 | |
| 27 |