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Silica Aerogel vs. Synthetic Sapphire

Both silica aerogel and synthetic sapphire are oxide-based engineering ceramics. There are 12 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (13, 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 silica aerogel and the bottom bar is synthetic sapphire.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 0.0050
450
Poisson's Ratio 0.2
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 0.0030
150
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 0.016
2470

Thermal Properties

Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.016
30
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 2.0
5.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.1
4.0

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 0.028
63
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 57
64
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 0.044
170
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 1.4
100
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 110
74