ASM International Publications

Resources

Free & Paid
No Download/Install required
Registration required

https://www.asminternational.org/

An incredibly valuable resource for mechanical engineering.

But the ASM Handbooks are not freely available, not even partially. The Digital Library is a paid subscription product.

What ASM does offer free is limited:

Journals via Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) In 2025 ASM adopted a Subscribe-to-Open model for its 6 primary research journals, meaning articles are published open access if the journal’s sustainability target is met for the year. Octoparse These are research journal articles, not handbook reference data.
Periodic free article promotions ASM occasionally opens free access to top downloaded articles from the previous year Apify — but these are time-limited windows, not a permanent free library.
Advanced Materials & Processes magazine ASM’s trade magazine has some free articles at asminternational.org but it’s news/trends content, not engineering reference data.

Disciplines: Materials science, Metallurgy, Mechanical engineering, Manufacturing, Failure analysis.

Free alternative to Knovel, Granta MI, SpringerMaterials.

ASM International Publications compared with Knovel, Granta MI and SpringerMaterials
ASM International Publications	Knovel	Granta MI	SpringerMaterials
Content: The Digital Library holds ASM Handbooks Online, technical books, conference proceedings, the Failure Analysis Database, Alloy Digest and technical articles.	Content: Content from over 170 publishers across 40+ subject areas, with property tables for over 21,000 compounds and specialised databases for aluminium, magnesium and titanium alloys, optical glass and polymer matrix composites.	Content: Software to create, control and store the material data of a company. Granta MI Enterprise lists access to 250,000+ advanced materials records.	Content: More than 500,000 online documents covering about 3,000 properties and 250,000 materials and chemical systems, built around the Landolt-Börnstein New Series.
Data origin: Published by ASM International, the materials society, so the reference text comes from one publisher.	Data origin: Aggregated from many publishers, so presentation and depth differ between sources.	Data origin: Mainly the own test and specification data of the organisation. The restricted substances module relies on a partnership with Chemwatch for substances data.	Data origin: Landolt-Börnstein is critically reviewed by subject experts. Subset databases include the Linus Pauling Files for inorganic solid phases and the Dortmund Databank.
	Tools and integration: Material property search, 1,000 equations with worked examples, interactive tables and graphs, a unit converter covering 1,000 units and steam calculators.	Tools and integration: Connects with CAD, CAE and PLM systems. Options include a Restricted Substances Module, a Sustainability add-on and Granta MI AI+. Release 2026 R1 is dated March 2026.	Tools and integration: Periodic table search and chemical structure search, plus crystal structure viewing in the Linus Pauling Files.
Licence and cost: Paid subscription: ASM Handbooks Online or topic collections by year, an all-access plan for the whole Digital Library, or purchase of single volumes and single articles. Members pay lower rates.	Licence and cost: Paid product. The product page publishes no licensing terms, and access is obtained from Elsevier.	Licence and cost: Quote-based commercial software. Visitors are directed to request an assessment or contact sales.	Licence and cost: Paid yearly subscription with full access, or purchase of the Landolt-Börnstein database. New customers can request a 60-day free trial.

Topics covered: ASM International, mechanical engineering, ASM Handbooks, Digital Library, paid subscription, Subscribe-to-Open, open access, research journals, sustainability target, free article promotions, time-limited access, Advanced Materials & Processes, trade magazine, news content, engineering reference data, articles, promotionsISO 9001, ASTM E8, ASME Y145, ISO 14001, and ASTM D638..