An Advanced Materials Database: A Gateway for Future and Secure Infrastructures

A range of new materials has recently been developed that includes important high-performance attributes. These attributes incorporate security, blast protection, resiliency, durability and cost effectiveness. As the rate of development of advanced materials increases, the need for a systematic organization of the properties of these materials becomes necessary. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledges the fact that new requirements call for the development of metrics and benchmarks that will provide a range of verification and validation methods for each high performance attribute in order to optimize the use of new materials. This new approach is seen as a step toward a new strategy that integrates all major attributes to improve, in a cost effective manner, the rehabilitation and construction of buildings and infrastructure nationwide. This article describes the structure of a new resource, the Advanced Material Database, and its usefulness to infrastructures stakeholders.