Zircon (Zirconium Silicate, ZrSiO4)
Zircon is an oxide-based engineering ceramic. It has a moderately high tensile strength and a moderately high density among oxide-based engineering ceramics. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare zircon to other oxide-based engineering ceramics (top) and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.
Thermal Properties
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
1650 °C 3000 °F
Thermal Conductivity
3.5 W/m-K 2.0 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
5.0 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz
8.8
Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential)
7.9 kV/mm 0.31 V/mil
Other Material Properties
Density
3.9 g/cm3 240 lb/ft3
Flexural Strength
450 MPa 65 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
290 MPa 42 x 103 psi
Common Calculations
Strength to Weight: Axial
21 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
25 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
Springer Handbook of Condensed Matter and Materials Data, W. Martienssen and H. Warlimont (editors), 2005