Silicon Carbide vs. Zirconia
Silicon carbide belongs to the non-oxide engineering ceramics classification, while zirconia belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics. There are 20 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is silicon carbide and the bottom bar is zirconia.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 2780 to 3900 | |
| 1260 to 3080 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 370 to 490 | |
| 190 to 200 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 410 to 600 | |
| 630 to 970 |
| Fracture Toughness, MPa-m1/2 | 3.4 to 4.6 | |
| 8.0 to 11 |
| Knoop Hardness | 2500 to 2900 | |
| 1210 to 1300 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.14 to 0.21 | |
| 0.25 to 0.29 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 210 to 370 | |
| 410 to 450 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 500 to 1590 | |
| 500 to 1330 |
| Maximum Thermal Shock, °C | 210 to 660 | |
| 300 to 350 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 670 to 1180 | |
| 400 to 510 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 120 to 170 | |
| 2.2 to 4.3 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 4.0 to 4.5 | |
| 8.8 to 9.5 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude, 10x Ω-m | 0.94 to 3.3 | |
| 4.5 to 11 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.0 to 3.2 | |
| 5.7 to 6.0 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 69 to 84 | |
| 19 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 79 to 82 | |
| 33 to 34 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 34 | |
| 19 to 22 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 24 to 38 | |
| 21 to 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 38 to 79 | |
| 0.73 to 1.8 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 6.9 to 18 | |
| 15 to 19 |