Yttria (Yttrium Oxide, Y2O3)
Yttria is an oxide-based engineering ceramic. It has a very low thermal conductivity among oxide-based engineering ceramics. In addition, it has a fairly low heat capacity and a fairly high density. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare yttria to other oxide-based engineering 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
390 MPa 57 x 103 psi
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
120 GPa 17 x 106 psi
Thermal Properties
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
2000 °C 3630 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
2440 °C 4420 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
440 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
0.3 W/m-K 0.17 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
8.0 µm/m-K
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Density
5.0 g/cm3 310 lb/ft3
Light Transmission Range
0.3 to 12 µm
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
13 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
32 points
Thermal Diffusivity
0.14 mm2/s
Followup Questions
Further Reading
Springer Handbook of Condensed Matter and Materials Data, W. Martienssen and H. Warlimont (editors), 2005
CRC Materials Science and Engineering Handbook, 4th ed., James F. Shackelford et al. (editors), 2015