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Hardwood vs. Zamak 2

Hardwood and Zamak 2 belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Hardwood is a polymeric material, while Zamak 2 is a metal. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 16 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (20, 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 hardwood and the bottom bar is Zamak 2.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 40
640
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 12
87
Elongation at Break, % 2.0
6.0
Poisson's Ratio 0.37
0.26
Shear Modulus, GPa 0.9
33
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 80
360

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1260
410
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.16
110
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 6.0
28

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.7
6.5

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 9.5
7.5
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 110
23
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
15
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 59
17
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.18
41
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 79
11