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Synthetic Sapphire vs. Silica Aerogel

Both synthetic sapphire and silica aerogel 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 synthetic sapphire and the bottom bar is silica aerogel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

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

Thermal Properties

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

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 4.0
0.1

Common Calculations

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