Best book for properties of materials?

AI Thread Summary
For detailed information on the properties of materials, particularly mechanical properties, a single definitive guide may be challenging to find. Recommendations include specialized resources like MIL-HDBK-5J, which offers extensive details on commonly used materials. Academic libraries often carry comprehensive engineering references, and websites like Engineering Toolbox and MatWeb can provide useful data. It's essential to be specific about the material properties needed, as general engineering handbooks typically offer limited information. Building a library of various resources is advisable for thorough research.
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Hi. I'm looking for a recommendation for a book (or website) that has detailed information on properties of materials. Specifically on mechanical properties. A book that covers all grades of materials, not just a general guide.

I'm forever to-ing and fro-ing between websites, datasheets and my existing books looking for yield strengths etc. I'd like a single source definitive guide.

Thanks.
 
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Nothing will cover everything - you need to be more specific ... the more specialized the reference the more detail you get.
An academic library will usually carry an engineers desk reference or somesuch in their reference collection... and that should be a reasonable search term.
i.e. Wiley's Engineer's Desk Reference, among others.

There are also websites like engineering toolbox and matweb which list things you commonly need to look up, as well as specialist sites for more detail.

Basically it depends on what you want.
 
Thanks Simon

I've not used matweb much before, but looking at it now it does seem a very good resource.

The Wiley's book is not really what I'm after. I've got plenty of general engineering handbooks. They only ever give a very general listing of material properties. What I'm after is a book that gives more details on commonly used materials. Also, it definitely needs to be in metric. Can be dealing with psi etc etc.
 
Like I said - you need to be specific. Then you can do your own hunting with more chance of getting something useful.
You are still unlikely to get a single reference that will have everything you want. People build up large libraries of this stuff.
 
Your most consistent bet would be using a set of standards with consistent conventions, like ASTM for example.

That being said, MIL standatds like MIL-HDBK-5J are valuable resources for this sort of thing as well.
 
I would like to second the recommendation to the latest edition of Mil-Hdbk-5. This is a great resource, with far more details than any other single source I can think of.
 
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