A new online steel database facilitates the finding information about more than 20,000 alloys and standards from standards development organizations around the world.

A new online steel database facilitates finding information about more than 20,000 alloys and standards from standards development organizations around the world. ASTM International's new 'Passport to Steel', developed in partnership with CASTI Publishing, provides comprehensive steel standards data in a product designed to offer the most timely data to the user in an accessible format. Passport to Steel incorporates steel data from: ASTM International, Association Francaise de Normalisation, American Petroleum Institute, SAE International, Deutsches Institut fuer Normung, British Standards Institution, Canadian Standards Association, European Committee for Standardisation, Japanese Standards Association, and the International Organisation for Standardisation.

Passport to Steel's search options allow the user to search by standards or fields he or she chooses, including: * Standards Developing Organization.

* Specification Title.

* Standard Designation.

* Grade, Class, Type, Symbol, Steel Name.

* Steel Number or UNS Number.

* Product Form (18 forms).

* Alloy Group (8 groups).

* Chemical Composition (search 36 elements by minimum, maximum, minimum/maximum range, nominal composition, or search for alloys containing any amount of a specific element).

* Mechanical Properties: tensile or yield strength, elongation, reduction of area, impact strength, hardness, with longitudinal or transverse data, in inch-pound units and SI units; (search by minimum, maximum, minimum/maximum range, or nominal values).

The results from each search can be sorted and selected according to user preferences.

In addition, search results can easily be copied into programs such as Microsoft Excel to save information electronically.

Search results can include the following parameters: * Specification designation with year date.

* Grade, class, type, symbol or steel name.

* UNS number or steel number.

* Product form and application.

* The full specification title.

* Complete chemical composition.

* Complete mechanical properties.

* Special notes relating to the data.

Help is just a keystroke away as Passport to Steel provides a Help menu with 'step-by-step' instructions and practical examples for each feature, hints and tips for searching, navigating, sorting data results, user frequently asked questions, and more.

The database also includes access to a Reference Center providing valuable information for all steel users.

The Reference Center includes: selected standards, journal articles, related book chapters, hardness conversion tables, the Periodic Table, and a list of metal terms in English, Spanish, German, and French.

Subscriptions for Passport to Steel are available from ASTM Customer Service.

For a one-year subscription for an individual workstation, one user, single PC access only, the cost is $995 (stock # PSTSTEEL).

For a one-year subscription, multi-user access at a single site, the cost is $1,750 (stock # PSTSTEELX).

* About ASTM International - stablished in 1898, ASTM International is one of the largest standards development and delivery systems in the world.

ASTM standards are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems, and commercial transactions around the globe.