Table 1. Mechanical properties of...

Table 1.

Mechanical properties of biological and engineered materials

Material	Ultimate tensile strength: MPa	Young's modulus: GPa
Collagen^*^,^†	50–70	0·2–21·5
Cellulose^‡	120	7·5–11
Chitin^‡	3	45
Resilin^§	3	0·002
Elastin^§	2	0·001
Bone^§^,^∥	88–132	14·6–25·5
Shell^¶	140–170	60–70
Exoskeleton^**^,^††	13–30	0·5–0·7
Wood^‡‡	2–100	0·5–25·0
Keratin^§§^,^∥∥	39–127	0·5–4·3
Silk^¶¶	500–972	5–13
Steel	300–630	200·0
Aluminium	110	69·0
Concrete	2–5	14·0–41·0
Kevlar	3600	130
Soil	0–1	0·1–1·0
High-density polyethylene (HDPE)	35–58	0·5–1·5
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)	52	1·5–3·0

Material	Ultimate tensile strength: MPa	Young's modulus: GPa
Collagen^*^,^†	50–70	0·2–21·5
Cellulose^‡	120	7·5–11
Chitin^‡	3	45
Resilin^§	3	0·002
Elastin^§	2	0·001
Bone^§^,^∥	88–132	14·6–25·5
Shell^¶	140–170	60–70
Exoskeleton^**^,^††	13–30	0·5–0·7
Wood^‡‡	2–100	0·5–25·0
Keratin^§§^,^∥∥	39–127	0·5–4·3
Silk^¶¶	500–972	5–13
Steel	300–630	200·0
Aluminium	110	69·0
Concrete	2–5	14·0–41·0
Kevlar	3600	130
Soil	0–1	0·1–1·0
High-density polyethylene (HDPE)	35–58	0·5–1·5
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)	52	1·5–3·0

van der Rijt et al. (2006);

^†

Wenger et al. (2007);

^‡

Wainright et al. (1982);

^§

Gosline et al. (1999);

^∥

Pal (2014);

^¶

Jackson et al. (1988);

^**

Joffe et al. (1975);

^††

Meyers et al. (2008);

^‡‡

Wegst & Ashby (2004);

^§§

Tombolato et al. (2010);

^∥∥

Farran et al. (2009);

^¶¶

Altman et al., 2003.

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