Boron Carbide vs. Grade A Lava
Boron carbide belongs to the non-oxide engineering ceramics classification, while grade A lava belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics. There are 12 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is boron carbide and the bottom bar is grade A lava.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 1710 to 2200 | |
| 76 to 170 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 170 to 410 | |
| 28 to 69 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 350 | |
| 6.9 to 21 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 1000 to 2500 | |
| 650 to 1130 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 950 | |
| 840 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 31 to 90 | |
| 2.0 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 4.5 to 5.6 | |
| 2.5 to 3.3 |
Electrical Properties
| Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz | 6.4 | |
| 5.3 to 5.8 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.1 to 2.7 | |
| 2.3 to 2.5 |
Common Calculations
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 37 to 47 | |
| 0.77 to 2.5 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 42 to 53 | |
| 3.2 to 7.3 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 16 to 38 | |
| 1.0 |