Drawing No. EH–MT–011 // Engineering Materials
Engineering Material Properties
Reviewed August 2026
Search and compare representative mechanical and thermal properties across conventional and advanced engineering materials. Every row states its material basis and links to a dedicated detail page with variability notes and technical sources. Values are reference data—not design allowables.
Data review: independently re-audited 11 Aug 2026. Numeric values are retained only where the selected source/basis supports them; otherwise the cell is intentionally qualitative.
| Material / basis | Density kg/m³ |
Young’s modulus GPa |
Poisson ratio — |
Yield strength MPa |
Tensile strength MPa |
Thermal conductivity W/(m·K) |
Specific heat J/(kg·K) |
Thermal expansion µm/(m·K) |
Melting / transition °C |
|---|
How to read this table: numerical ranges represent a deliberately broad reference where condition matters. “N/A” or descriptive cells are intentional: glass and concrete do not have a conventional ductile yield point; amorphous polymers and glass do not have a single sharp crystalline melting point; wood is strongly directional. Click the material name before using a value in engineering work.
What the columns mean
The database separates mass, stiffness, strength and thermal behavior because these properties answer different engineering questions. They should not be substituted for one another.
Density
Mass per unit volume. Useful for weight, inertia, buoyancy and thermal-capacitance estimates.
Young’s modulus
Elastic stiffness—not strength. A higher yield strength does not automatically mean a higher modulus.
Poisson ratio
Dimensionless transverse contraction ratio. Directional materials such as wood need multiple Poisson ratios.
Yield & tensile strength
Yield marks the onset of a defined permanent-deformation criterion for ductile materials; tensile strength is the maximum engineering tensile stress. Brittle/composite materials require different strength descriptions.
Thermal conductivity & heat capacity
Conductivity controls heat-flow resistance; specific heat controls the energy needed to change temperature.
Thermal expansion & transition
Thermal expansion is a small-strain coefficient. “Melting / transition” becomes Vicat/Tg/softening/decomposition where a true metal-like melting point is not physically appropriate.
Reference methodology
Representative, not universal
Each family uses a named reference grade or state. Metals use recognizable alloy/temper examples; polymers use engineering/pipe grades; ceramics use named manufacturer grades; semiconductors use crystal-orientation references; composites use a defined fiber/matrix/layup condition; concrete, glass and wood use explicitly defined reference conditions.
Mechanical strength is especially condition-sensitive. If your procurement specification says 304L, 316L, S355, 7075-T6, Ti Grade 2, PE80, tempered glass or C40/50 concrete, open the relevant detailed page but obtain the final design properties from that exact specification.
Typical reference temperature
Unless a source or detail page says otherwise, values are intended as room-temperature orientation values around 20–25°C. Temperature dependence can be large for polymers and important for metals, concrete and wood as well.
Primary manufacturer, trade-association, standards-body and government sources are preferred. A source-quality label is shown for each row. Where a selected primary source does not publish a requested property, the table now says so rather than filling the gap with an unrelated family-average value.