NIST's new free (and cool) on-line solid materials database
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has recently
published a free on-line database of the properties of solid materials at
temperatures ranging from cryogenic (around 4 K/ -269 C) to room temperature.
The publication
of the database - which is officially known as the NIST
Standard Reference Data Database #152 - is said to have been prompted by
'numerous inquiries from academia, industry, and other
government labs', many of whose research and development concerns
the stresses imposed on materials by the effect of cryogenic
temperatures.
The database has been built up from data
'collected by... organizations over many years, published in various formats
such as internal reports, ... [and which] not been publicly available.' The data were collated and evaluated by NIST
researchers, with 'conflicts resulting from different test methods and sources
[resolved]'. The data were then re-plotted and correlated over a wide
temperature range using standardised equations.
The database, which presently
consists of entries on around 40 materials, 'covers a wide range of materials from
traditional engineering stainless steels to fiberglass epoxy ..., exotic regenerator materials..., and Kevlar.' The entry pages include various
helpful links, such as to reference lists and thermal conductivity and specific
heat plots. The database is expected to be expanded as new data
become available.
The materials for which data are held have applications in a number of fields, including medicine (e.g.
cryosurgery), energy applications (e.g. storage of liquid methane or liquid
natural gas), electronics (e.g. superconducting microwave filters for cellular
phones), transportation (e.g. liquid hydrogen fuel storage), space exploration
(e.g. fuel storage), environmental research (e.g. thermal mapping and imaging of
oceans), weather forecasting (e.g. infrared thermal imaging of the atmosphere)
and defense (e.g. infrared guidance systems).
The database is yet another of the
free, on-line chemical services to have emerged in
recent years. We have reported some
of the other other fruits of this promising trend on this
blog.
Posted by Gino D'Oca at 11:28
