MatWeb Search Strategies
MatWeb's database currently includes comprehensive coverage of thermoplastic and thermoset polymers, metals, ceramics, and other
engineering materials.
The large number of materials covered by MatWeb can complicate the search process. Users who enter a generic material name in the Text Search box find that hundreds or thousands of materials are returned. This section will outline
strategies that you can use to find your desired materials quickly and efficiently.
- The Advanced Search combines all other searches on MatWeb to provide the single
most powerful search MatWeb has to offer. By allowing the addition and removal of various search criteria (key words and phrases, material
categories, material properties, and material compositions) to a search, it is much easier to locate materials that meet
the desired specifications. This is available to registered users only - but free registration is available!
- If you are looking for materials to meet your property specifications go to our
Property Search Page. You can choose values for up to three properties simultaneously
from MatWeb's list of over 75 material properties and the MatWeb search engine will return matching materials. You can further
restrict your search to a category of engineering materials. More Details on this Search
Process.
- If you are looking for property information for a specific material, try the Quick Search in the upper right
corner of any MatWeb page. This approach will work best when you can enter a unique text string (such as 2024 for Aluminum 2024) or are looking
for a less common material such as zirconia or polyetheretherketone. You will be overwhelmed by the responses for the more
common materials such as steel or polyester. This search also looks for text in the material notes section of our data sheets, so attributes and applications can sometimes be found this way.
- If you want information on a material but do not know a specific alloy or trade name, try our Category Section.
Our main Category Page lists every material in MatWeb by material type in a hierarchical format
such as Tungsten Alloy or Nylon 12. We also index our materials by Trade Name
and Manufacturer and index alloys by UNS Number when available.
- If you know the complete elemental composition of an alloy, or even a partial composition, then try the Metal Composition Search. This allows you to select up to three elements with composition ranges and a metal search category. This search can also be a helpful for finding equivalent alloys. Click here for more helpful tips about our composition-based searches.
For more information about specific material categories, choose one of the following links: