Experience of thermophysical database development using modern information technologies (review)

The review summarizes the results of the long-term work carried out at the Glushko Thermocenter for the creation of topical databases and the use of new information technologies ensuring the integration of diversified electronic resources. The basic principles of the IVTANTHERMO thermodynamic database and the latest results on the expansion of its content and functional capabilities are examined in detail. The THERMAL thermophysical database, which includes bibliographic data on a wide range of thermophysical, optical, electrical, and other physical properties, is described. The future plans to update the THERMAL database and expand its scope are reviewed. The advantages of modern information technologies for the solution of pressing problems of the integration of diversified resources (such as databases, text documents, spreadsheets, plots, and data files in proprietary formats) using a unified infrastructure are studied. It is demonstrated that ontological modeling can be used as the most effective tool of categorization and search in organizing a flexible data structure peculiar to substances and materials with properties that depend on the type of sample, manufacturing technology, environmental effects, etc.