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Silica Aerogel vs. Carbon-carbon

Silica aerogel belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics classification, while carbon-carbon belongs to the non-oxide engineering ceramics. There are 12 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (8, 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 silica aerogel and the bottom bar is carbon-carbon.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 0.0050
95
Poisson's Ratio 0.2
0.32
Shear Modulus, GPa 0.0030
36
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 0.016
19

Thermal Properties

Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.016
40
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 2.0
4.0

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 0.1
1.7

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 0.028
31
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 57
89
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 0.044
3.0
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 1.4
9.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 110
3.5