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Zirconia vs. Boron Carbide

Zirconia belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics classification, while boron carbide belongs to the non-oxide 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. 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 zirconia and the bottom bar is boron carbide.

Zirconia (Zirconium Dioxide, ZrO2)Boron Carbide (B4C)
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 1260 to 3080
1710 to 2200
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190 to 200
240 to 460
Flexural Strength, MPa 630 to 970
170 to 410
Fracture Toughness, MPa-m1/2 8.0 to 11
2.5 to 3.5
Knoop Hardness 1210 to 1300
2600 to 3200
Poisson's Ratio 0.25 to 0.29
0.17 to 0.19
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 410 to 450
350

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 500 to 1330
1000 to 2500
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 400 to 510
950
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 2.2 to 4.3
31 to 90
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 8.8 to 9.5
4.5 to 5.6

Electrical Properties

Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz 28
6.4
Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude, 10x Ω-m 4.5 to 11
0 to 11

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 5.7 to 6.0
2.1 to 2.7

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 19
63 to 100
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 33 to 34
91 to 100
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 19 to 22
37 to 47
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 21 to 23
42 to 53
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.73 to 1.8
16 to 38
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15 to 19
9.7 to 20