A materials database is a database

Database

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...

 used to store experimental, standards or design data for materials in such a way that they can be retrieved efficiently by humans or computer programs.

Background

Fast access and exchange of materials data between research, design and manufacturing teams working on different sites worldwide, is a challenging issue to be addressed during the product cycle in materials engineering. Another important issue is safeguarding high investments made into materials research, meaning that experimental data must be properly conserved, easily be located and quickly be retrieved. Materials databases (MDBs) are powerful tools to address these problems.

The development of factual materials databases began significantly in the 1980s with a leading standardisation role being taken by CODATA, ASTM E49 and the British Standards

British Standards

British Standards are the standards produced by BSI Group which is incorporated under a Royal Charter...

 i.e. BSI

BSI Group

BSI Group, also known in its home market as the British Standards Institution , is a multinational business services provider whose principal activity is the production of standards and the supply of standards-related services.- History :...

 AMT4/-/6.

Different types

Various categories of MDBs exist for different requirements, for example containing standards data on metallic alloys and plastics or more complex database applications needed for design analysis. MDBs are basic elements for establishing knowledge based and expert systems .

Web enabled

With the emergence of the Internet, the capability of MDBs increased. Web-enabled MDBs provide a more centralized management and conservation of Materials data. Finding and accessing the required data is faster than to search for them in a traditional manner, e.g. from handbooks or Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...

 files. In particular the dissemination of public research results has improved, as the data are accessible over the World Wide Web

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...

. However, only a few web-enabled materials applications exist at present on the market. Examples are:

• the Materials databases] of NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science
  National Institute for Materials Science
  is an Independent Administrative Institution and one of the largest scientific research centers in Japan.- History :The growth and development of today's scientific research center has passed through several phases in a number of locations:...
  
  ) in Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  offers materials data.
• Matweb is a freely accessible online database with technical data sheets for over 69,000 materials.
• IDES provides a free online database with access to 75,000 data sheets on plastics

External links

• JRC
• MATDAT