The Secrets Are In There

I downloaded a table from MIT open courseware today. It lists several indices or ratings for materials including Spruce, Bone, . The ratings have headings like Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus, tensile strength shear strength* and density. The table fills the page solid with this information.

AT first it just seemed like a useful index, a reference. As the students described their interest in how bone and wood fail, I kept coming back to the table. Apparently this index was an exhaustive guide to the different kinds of strengths a material may possess. Not only that, but measures for a range of popular and useful materials.

The Seven Wonders of the (Ancient) World

Without further ado:

1. Great Pyramid of Giza
2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
4. Statue of Zeus at Olympia
5. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (aka the Mausoleum of Mausolus)
6. Colossus of Rhodes
7. Lighthouse of Alexandria

Each of the seven wonders of the ancient world made the list for some hyperbolic quality: sheer size, position (over a bay for example), context (gardens in the desert): all qualities claimed by materials science.

People managed to build the seven wonders without understanding materials very well, i.e.: quantitatively. That didn't change until

An Occult Science

Robert Hooke was the first to chart the properties of elasticity. He did so tentatively, and he didn't trust the results.

The Big Table

MATERIAL	Type	Cost ($/kg)	Density (ρ ,Mg/m3)	Young's Modulus (E , GPa)	Shear Modulus (G , GPa)	Poisson's Ratio (ν )	Yield Stress (σ Y , MPa)	UTS (σ f ,MPa)	Breaking strain (ε f , %)	Fracture Toughness (K c ,MN m-3/2)	Thermal Expansion (α ,10-6/C)
Alumina (Al2O3)	ceramic	1.9	3.9	390	125	0.26	4800	35	0	4.4	8.1
Aluminum alloy (7075-T6)	metal	1.8	2.7	70	28	0.34	500	570	12	28	33
Beryllium alloy	metal	315	2.9	245	110	0.12	360	500	6	5	14
Bone (compact)	natural	1.9	2	14	3.5	0.43	100	100	9	5	20
Brass (70Cu30Zn, annealed)	metal	2.2	8.4	130	39	0.33	75	325	70	80	20
Cermets (Co/WC)	composite	78.6	11.5	470	200	0.3	650	1200	2.5	13	5.8
CFRP Laminate (graphite)	composite	110	1.5	1.5	53	0.28	200	550	2	38	12
Concrete	ceramic	0.05	2.5	48	20	0.2	25	3	0	0.75	11
Copper alloys	metal	2.25	8.3	135	50	0.35	510	720	0.3	94	18
Cork	natural	9.95	0.18	0.032	0.005	0.25	1.4	1.5	80	0.074	180
Epoxy thermoset	polymer	5.5	1.2	3.5	1.4	0.25	45	45	4	0.5	60
GFRP Laminate (glass)	composite	3.9	1.8	26	10	0.28	125	530	2	40	19
Glass (soda)	ceramic	1.35	2.5	65	26	0.23	3500	35	0	0.71	8.8
Granite	ceramic	3.15	2.6	66	26	0.25	2500	60	0.1	1.5	6.5
Ice (H2O)	ceramic	0.23	0.92	9.1	3.6	0.28	85	6.5	0	0.11	55
Lead alloys	metal	1.2	11.1	16	5.5	0.45	33	42	60	40	29
Nickel alloys	metal	6.1	8.5	180	70	0.31	900	1200	30	93	13
Polyamide (nylon)	polymer	4.3	1.1	3	0.76	0.42	40	55	5	3	103
Polybutadiene elastomer	polymer	1.2	0.91	0.0016	0.0005	0.5	2.1	2.1	500	0.087	140
Polycarbonate	polymer	4.9	1.2	2.7	0.97	0.42	70	77	60	2.6	70
Polyester thermoset	polymer	3	1.3	3.5	1.4	0.25	50	0.7	2	0.7	150
Polyethylene (HDPE)	polymer	1	0.95	0.7	0.31	0.42	25	33	90	3.5	225
Polypropylene	polymer	1.1	0.89	0.9	0.42	0.42	35	45	90	3	85
Polyurethane elastomer	polymer	4	1.2	0.025	0.0086	0.5	30	30	500	0.3	125
Polyvinyl chloride (rigid PVC)	polymer	1.5	1.4	1.5	0.6	0.42	53	60	50	0.54	75
Silicon	ceramic	2.35	2.3	110	44	0.24	3200	35	0	1.5	6
Silicon Carbide (SiC)	ceramic	36	2.8	450	190	0.15	9800	35	0	4.2	4.2
Spruce (parallel to grain)	natural	1	0.6	9	0.8	0.3	48	50	10	2.5	4
Steel, high strength 4340	metal	0.25	7.8	210	76	0.29	1240	1550	2.5	100	14
Steel, mild 1020	metal	0.5	7.8	210	76	0.29	200	380	25	140	14
Steel, stainless austenitic 304	metal	2.7	7.8	210	76	0.28	240	590	60	50	17
Titanium alloy (6Al4V)	metal	16.25	4.5	100	39	0.36	910	950	15	85	9.4
Tungsten Carbide (WC)	ceramic	50	15.5	550	270	0.21	6800	35	0	3.7	5.8