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Optical Silicon vs. SAE-AISI 1010 Steel

Optical silicon and SAE-AISI 1010 steel belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Optical silicon is a ceramic material, while SAE-AISI 1010 steel 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 (23, 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 optical silicon and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 1010 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 150
190
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 80
73
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 110
350 to 400

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 1350
400
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1560
1430
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 700
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
47
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 3.0
12

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 2.3
7.9

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 35
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 75
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 13
12 to 14
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 22
14 to 15
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 93
13
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18
11 to 13