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Properties of materials - definitive reference?

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AndyC_772:
Hi

Does anyone know of a definitive or comprehensive reference table listing a wide range of engineering materials and their properties (eg. density, strength, speed of sound, resistivity, dielectric constant etc...)?

It feels to me as though there should be a big, fat book out there somewhere, probably published by a national laboratory, university or trade association, which lists hundreds if not thousands of materials along with the fundamental, quantifiable things which are known about them. Ideally it would include proper citations showing how each figure was obtained. Want to know the yield strength of balsa wood, or the speed of sound in mercury at room temperature? This is where you'll find it.

I don't doubt that such a reference would be expensive, as there would be a lot of work involved in putting it together and keeping it up to date. This is OK.

I can always google individual figures, of course, but the results are usually less than helpful, especially if I don't know exactly what I'm looking for (eg. 'what material has property X closest to value Y?'). Plenty of sites list little snippets of data, maybe a table showing a few related properties for a handful of materials, but no information on where those figures came from or where to find more.

I'm sure I'm missing something - the hardback book that every lab has somewhere, and that engineers pass down from father to son as they retire. But I can't find it.

Any hints please...?

Andy Watson:
I doubt that such a thing exists. Have you considered how "fat" it would have to be to cover the spectrum of modern materials? And how would it be kept up-to-date?
Once-upon-a-time, the go-to book that a "proper" lab wanted have access to was "The Rubber Book" - CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Although I gather that recent editions have pared-back on what is now considered to be common knowledge.
A second requirement was often "kaye and Laby" - I remeber this as being more focused on the fundamental physics of materials and constants.

jpanhalt:
Sad to hear that about the CRC Handbook.

In addition and also very dated is Machinery's Handbook (Industrial Press, Inc., NY, NY).  I keep the 21st edition (copyright 1979) on my shelf.  Later editions went CD.  I don't know what the latest edition is. 

Andy Watson:

--- Quote from: jpanhalt on July 19, 2022, 09:57:48 am ---Sad to hear that about the CRC Handbook.

--- End quote ---
I should make it clear that that is second-hand opinion - I've not seen a copy for 30+ years.

Another vote for Machinery's Handbook  -  for the more practical mechanical stuff.

nfmax:
I have the 97th edition CRC handbook (2016/7) which is still useful. However it doesn’t have much on engineering materials. My favourite datum is the comprehensive list of materials incompatible with fluorine: Everything

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