Here is a quick rundown of indium metal properties:
- Tensile strength: 273PSI
- Shear Strength: 890PSI
- Young’s Modulus: 1.57x106 PSI
- Elongation: up to 41%
- Brinell Hardness: 0.9
If you study materials, you may notice that indium is 4 times softer than lead – and at least an order of magnitude softer than most solder alloys. But, as a description to those who are not material scientists, I offer the following explanation:
Imagine a bar of soap. If you press your fingernail into it, it will easily deform. It will dent if dropped on the floor. It can be shaved with a blade, and bent on the corner of a table. As indium is a metal (with a healthy thermal and electrical conductivity), this softness is very unique - and lends itself to specialty electronics/cooling applications (and many, many other things).
If this interests you, give us a call to discuss: +1 (315) 381-4900
Or, if email is your thing, start a conversation: askus@indium.com