November 9, 2003

2 Min Read
Web Sites Streamline Polymers Research

Originally Published MPMNNovember 2003

E-NEWS

Web Sites Streamline Polymers Research

Two on-line tools are making it easier for engineers to research polymer properties and applications. Omnexus (Atlanta, GA) has launched www.omnexus.com/materialdatacenter, where users can access the properties of more than 8000 grades of plastics. Material matters also can be explored in depth at a site hosted by Knovel (Norwich, NY). At www.knovel.com, more than 500 plastics and engineering reference books can be searched on-line.

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Click to go to site.

The Omnexus Material Data and Applications Center compiles data representing nearly 80% of global plastic products from more than 35 suppliers. Developed in collaboration with German firm M-Base Engineering + Software, the site also features an applications section. 
Users can search by industry segment, including healthcare, and by polymer type. Datasheets involving hundreds of material applications can be downloaded. Materials can be searched based on 210 different properties in English or German. SI or English units of measure can be selected.

Omnexus was founded in June 2000 by Bayer, BASF, Dow, DuPont, and Ticona to serve as a platform for e-commerce in the plastics industry. More than 20 companies worldwide are currently represented.

On the literary front, Knovel has converted hundreds of plastics and engineering reference books into a searchable Web-based resource. Interactive tables, graph digitizers, equation plotters, and other tools can be manipulated and used for analysis. "We have turned 'dumb' graphs into smart graphs," says chairman and editor-in-chief William A. Woishnis. "For example, users can select data points from the graphs and export them to spreadsheets."

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Click to go to site.

Publications that can be accessed on-line include the Modern Plastics Handbook, Chemical Resistance of Plastics and Elastomers, and Roark's Formulas for Stress and Strain.

The company plans to introduce a medical device subject area by the end of 2003, according toWoishnis. 

Norbert Sparrow

Copyright ©2003 Medical Product Manufacturing News

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