PLA vs. LDPE
Both PLA and LDPE are thermoplastics. There are 13 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is PLA and the bottom bar is LDPE.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 3.5 | |
| 0.3 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 2.4 | |
| 0.21 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 50 | |
| 7.0 |
Thermal Properties
| Glass Transition Temperature, °C | 60 | |
| -130 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 160 | |
| 110 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 1800 | |
| 2300 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 0.13 | |
| 0.36 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.3 | |
| 0.92 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 1.6 | |
| 0.18 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 40 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 11 | |
| 2.1 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 8.8 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 0.058 | |
| 0.17 |