Ultraviolet (UV) Grade Fused Silica
UV grade fused silica is a grade of fused silica. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare UV grade fused silica to other glass and glass-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.
Mechanical Properties
Compressive (Crushing) Strength
1100 MPa 160 x 103 psi
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
73 GPa 11 x 106 psi
Flexural Strength
67 MPa 9.7 x 103 psi
Knoop Hardness
570
Poisson's Ratio
0.17
Shear Modulus
31 GPa 4.5 x 106 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
50 MPa 7.2 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Maximum Temperature: Decomposition
1100 °C 2010 °F
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
1080 °C 1980 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1900 °C 3450 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
720 J/kg-K 0.17 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
1.4 W/m-K 0.79 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
0.5 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz
3.8
Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential)
30 kV/mm 1.2 V/mil
Electrical Dissipation At 1 MHz
0.00011
Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude
14 10x Ω-m
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Density
2.2 g/cm3 140 lb/ft3
Light Transmission Range
0.16 to 3.2 µm
Refractive Index
1.5
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
18 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
63 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
6.3 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
14 points
Thermal Diffusivity
0.85 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
97 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
Ceramic and Glass Materials: Structure, Properties and Processing, James F. Shackelford and Robert H. Doremus (editors), 2008
Glass: Mechanics and Technology, Eric Le Bourhis, 2007
Handbook of Optical Materials, Marvin J. Weber, 2003
Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids, Edward D. Palik (editor), 1998
Ceramics and Composites: Processing Methods, Narottam P. Bansal and Aldo R. Boccaccini (editors), 2012