About Mat Grades
Mat Grades is an independent engineering materials reference, comparison, and selection platform. Our mission is to provide mechanical, materials, design, and manufacturing engineers with structured, source-backed materials data qualified by metallurgical condition.
The 10 Non-Negotiable Product Principles
Missing is better than invented.
If an engineering property is not verified or documented in authoritative literature, we omit it or clearly designate it as unverified. We never synthesize plausible values.
Engineering values must not be fabricated by AI.
Large language models must never be used to invent mechanical, thermal, or chemical values. Critical data requires deterministic source backing.
Important engineering values must ultimately support provenance.
Every published property, composition limit, or standard relationship links to its primary source citation, handbook, or standard specification.
Material properties must preserve applicable context.
Properties are meaningless without their qualifying metallurgical condition, temper, product form, test temperature, and standard test methodology.
Similar materials must not automatically be presented as equivalent.
Superficial chemical or naming similarities do not imply operational equivalence.
Comparable does not mean equivalent.
We classify cross-references with explicit nuance (Standard Cross-Reference, Nearest Alternative, Commonly Compared) rather than a crude boolean flag.
Copyrighted engineering standards must not be reproduced without rights.
We reference designation codes and nominal allowable ranges; full standard texts remain proprietary to their issuing organizations.
Do not scrape proprietary databases contrary to terms.
Mat Grades compiles data ethically and cleanly through public standards metadata, authoritative handbooks, and direct partnerships.
SEO must never override engineering accuracy.
Search engine discoverability serves engineering utility, not the reverse. We consolidate intent and avoid doorway pages or misleading claims.
Mat Grades should feel like a professional engineering product.
Information-dense, clean typography, responsive data tables, and minimal visual distraction.