Boron Carbide vs. Steatite
Boron carbide belongs to the non-oxide engineering ceramics classification, while steatite belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics. There are 18 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (7, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is boron carbide and the bottom bar is steatite.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa | 1710 to 2200 | |
| 540 to 620 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 240 to 460 | |
| 68 to 120 |
| Flexural Strength, MPa | 170 to 410 | |
| 32 to 150 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.17 to 0.19 | |
| 0.23 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 350 | |
| 60 to 220 |
Thermal Properties
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 1000 to 2500 | |
| 750 to 1230 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 950 | |
| 850 to 860 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 31 to 90 | |
| 1.8 to 2.5 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 4.5 to 5.6 | |
| 7.0 to 9.0 |
Electrical Properties
| Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz | 6.4 | |
| 5.7 to 6.5 |
| Electrical Resistivity Order of Magnitude, 10x Ω-m | 0 to 11 | |
| 8.0 to 11 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.1 to 2.7 | |
| 1.9 to 2.8 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 63 to 100 | |
| 14 to 32 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 91 to 100 | |
| 52 to 83 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 37 to 47 | |
| 6.4 to 32 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 42 to 53 | |
| 13 to 42 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 16 to 38 | |
| 0.79 to 1.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 9.7 to 20 | |
| 5.1 to 33 |