Synthetic Sapphire vs. S45503 Stainless Steel
Synthetic sapphire and S45503 stainless steel belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. Synthetic sapphire is a ceramic material, while S45503 stainless steel is a metal. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 14 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (27, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is synthetic sapphire and the bottom bar is S45503 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 450 | |
| 190 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.28 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 150 | |
| 75 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 2470 | |
| 1610 to 1850 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 2000 | |
| 760 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 2050 | |
| 1400 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 760 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 5.3 | |
| 11 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 4.0 | |
| 7.9 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 63 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 64 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 170 | |
| 57 to 65 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 100 | |
| 39 to 43 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 74 | |
| 56 to 64 |