Design engineers and product designers are now able to source materials at the click of a button, thanks to Munich-based start-up called Matmatch. The company is creating the largest free materials database in the world, to bridge the gap between suppliers and purchasers, allowing users to research and compare materials by filtering on their physical, chemical and thermal characteristics.
The database allows for the comparison of metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites and in the future will also feature glass and biological materials.
Research conducted by the team behind Matmatch found that 80% of engineers and scientists use Google to research the properties of various materials. Matmatch makes the process easier, by allowing users to find the right materials by comparing the form, material properties and potential applications.
With over 90,000 materials to search from, Matmatch already has an impressive list of suppliers listed on the database including Alcoa, ThyssenKrupp, VDM Metals and Plansee. The company also has an in-house team of materials scientists who are responsible for compiling and verifying the data on the site, to make sure any information provided by suppliers is accurate and reliable.
To make searching simpler, the Matmatch database has an inbuilt application search function, which helps engineers find materials that have previously been identified as the most suitable option by other specialists working in similar applications.
