MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

Zirconia vs. Optical Silicon

Zirconia belongs to the oxide-based engineering ceramics classification, while optical silicon belongs to the non-glass optical ceramics. There are 19 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (7, 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 optical silicon.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 1260 to 3080
120
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190 to 200
150
Flexural Strength, MPa 630 to 970
300
Fracture Toughness, MPa-m1/2 8.0 to 11
3.5
Knoop Hardness 1210 to 1300
1130
Poisson's Ratio 0.25 to 0.29
0.28
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 410 to 450
110

Thermal Properties

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 500 to 1330
1350
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 400 to 510
700
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 2.2 to 4.3
150
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 8.8 to 9.5
3.0

Electrical Properties

Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 MHz 28
12

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Density, g/cm3 5.7 to 6.0
2.3

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 19
35
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 33 to 34
75
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 19 to 22
13
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 21 to 23
22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.73 to 1.8
93
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15 to 19
18