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 per cent 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 Matmatchs site, to make sure any information provided by suppliers is accurate and reliable.

"There are two key trends in the materials market; digitalisation and demand fluctuation," explained Melissa Albeck, CEO of Matmatch. "Digitalisation is already a mature theme in other elements of design engineering. For instance, its common now to see digital twinning, BIM (Building Information Modelling) and virtual commissioning in new applications. But in materials, we still use manufacturers brochures to source information, which is an idea entirely out of step with our digital future.

"Meanwhile, in the supply chain, products are now needed in hundreds of varieties, they must be brought to market in record time, using short development cycles and rapid prototyping, and the range of material properties a specific product line could demand, is huge.

"The ability to share materials information easily with an entire team, makes procurement a lot simpler and reduces the time needed to research and source the materials and integrate them into a digital environment," concluded Albeck.

Matmatch brings together data obtained from numerous trustworthy and verified sources including licensed academic and corporate material databases. This makes it possible for users to search for any material, from polymers to metals, using a single source.

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.

For more information on Matmatch, visit https://matmatch.com/ or call +49 89 262075200.