Frequently Asked Questions

MSI Eureka is the world’s leading and most comprehensive database for critically evaluated phase diagrams and related materials property data for metals, alloys, non-metals, and composites.

It is a one-stop resource that offers everything related to materials constitution: from exhaustive bibliography to high-quality evaluated phase diagrams. Materials constitution describes phase relations, crystal structures, thermodynamics ... and more in a material system.

The MSI Eureka knowledgebase provides a reliable source of phase diagram data on materials systems. There is no need for multiple retrospective searches or re-evaluation of the same systems again and again by the individual material scientist. MSI Eureka is an ideal resource of evaluated input data for computer-aided modeling and simulations.

Relevant for:
Materials science, engineering, crystallography, thermodynamics, crystal growth, materials design, alloy development, chemistry, physics, industrial engineering across multiple industries, ...and many others.

No, SpringerMaterials includes only two data categories of MSI Eureka (out of five) and these are only up to the publication year 2017. No further updates after 2017 and no new data categories will be included in SpringerMaterials in the future.

Phase Diagram Evaluations comprise three data categories:

Phase Diagram Compilations comprise 2 categories:

Links to Literature

MSI is proud to announce a collaboration with Materials Design, Inc. - the leading atomistic simulation software and services company for materials. Critical Evaluations and Diagrams as Published are available also via the MedeA environment. Materials Design Inc. is marketing MSI Eureka Phase Diagrams in their platform MedeA to enhance MedeA’s modeling capabilities for materials discovery, design, and optimization projects.

ALL Inorganic Materials – over 77620 systems.

Types of materials:

Alloys (e.g. metals, steels, bronzes, magnets, implants, electronic materials, & more)

Non-metals (e.g. ceramics, sensors, semiconductors, & more)

Composites (e.g. cermets, ceramic matrix composites, metal matrix composites & more).

Not included: ionic liquids, and organic substances (C-H bonding).

Critical evaluation involves the resolution of contradictory published results, comparing and analyzing conclusions, and interpreting results based on assessing all available knowledge. MSIT evaluation reports discuss and reconcile conflicting data and rationalize the choice of the most appropriate data sets. The evaluation reports are authentic publications, peer reviewed under the auspices of the MSIT^® editorial board.

Following a brief description of the relevant scientific literature and the accepted associated binary alloy systems, important features of the system are described under appropriate headings, such as 'Solid Phases', 'Invariant Equilibria' and 'Thermodynamics'. Using the evaluation of the scientific literature as a guide, diagrams are drawn and presented (isothermal and vertical sections, projections) that reflect the current state of knowledge relating to phase equilibria in the system. As the diagrams themselves are the result of the meticulous assessment of information produced by different methods and from different sources, it is often necessary for phase boundaries to be drawn in such a way as to give not only the best representation of the phase equilibria in any one section, but also to assure consistency with all diagrams, text and tables for the system. This is where the 'evaluation' differs from 'review', the latter being generally just a listing and brief discussion of relevant literature.

The evaluation reports are an ideal source for computer-aided modeling and simulations, and are a repository of reliable validated data.

A license to access individual documents or sets of documents for individual systems can be purchased via our online shop with a credit card. This license mode is typically chosen for targeted and immediate needs. In one single web session you specify your license area, purchase your license and receive your license key. Then copy & past the license key into the client software "Eureka Viewer". In the Viewer you download and read the interactive documents in your license area, immediately.

If you want to expand or renew the license you go back to the web interface and buy online a new license key. Note that there is no duplicated charge on overlapping information, not within a license and not for concurrently running licenses.

MSI Eureka includes information (at various value added levels) for all inorganic materials systems ever investigated, independent of the number of components, starting with unary, binary, ternary systems and up to 16-components.

New data are added at least four times per year.

The phase diagrams in the data-category Evaluations are mostly not computer calculated but intellectually created in the process of critical evaluation of all published information, experimental and calculated data. (Thermodynamic) calculation is used on occasions to verify individual results…
Advantage of calculation: Has predictive power to simulate into materials (concentration/temperature areas) not studied experimentally.
Disadvantage of calculation: Can deliver incorrect results, not obviously visible; depend on the calculation models and data used as an input. Often as “black-box” not transparent to the user.

MSI Eureka Includes: 

4,630 critically evaluated binary & ternary systems (full-text new publications by MSI, peer-reviewed);
4,296 extended extracts from literature;
16,340 phase diagrams and graphs;
508,520 bibliographic entries related to 77,620 inorganic materials systems;
…and it is continuously updated.