# Advanced Search
Advanced Search is designed to help you identify the best materials for your designs. As explained below the search possibilities are virtually limitless, this search allows you to combine constraints on mechanical or physical properties while also taking into account constraints on the chemical composition or on the sustainability of polymers. With all these possibilities, this search also requires its user to be alert, make sure to carefully follow this help page.
Advanced search can be accessed from Total Search's top Menu.
## Configuring your first Advanced Search
First, it is important to understand how to combine your search criteria. Every block represents one of your search criteria. They can be combined two ways, either as an **AND** condition by adding your criteria to a new line or by adding a new criteria on the same line as another to obtain an **OR** combination with the criteria already on that line. On the screenshot above, we are searching a tool steel under EN standard that has a hardness of either HB>170, HR>30 or HV>172.
Use the "Add Search Criteria" button to place a new criteria at the desired position. This will open a new popup window allowing you to configure your new criteria. The criteria are organized into five main categories:
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="General Information" %}
The General Information tab permits the user to add criteria on the material:
* designation, to find materials with the specified chain of characters in their designation
* standard **or** producer
* classification to search for materials in specific material groups. Important to note that for Polymer groups supplementary properties relating to fillers, flame retardants or recycled/bio content.
* the free text field at the bottom allows the users to search through the material description to filter materials by their recommended application/industry, or welding class according to ISO/CR 15608 (2000).
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="Chemical Composition" %}
The chemical composition tab allows the user to select the different elements and add a constraint on their proportion in the material's composition. This proportion can be defined as a minimum and/or maximum content or as "not allowed" meaning that the element should be absent from the composition of the desired material.
*Note: If only a maximum value is set for the content of an element, the search algorithm will still try to find material containing that element. Materials without that element in their composition will not be considered. To search for materials with a maximum value of an element or this element not present in the composition, add 2 criteria in your search one where you set a max and a second where you exclude this element, be vigilant in placing these 2 criteria on the same line to combine them with an OR criteria,* [*as explained above*](#configuring-your-first-advanced-search)*.*
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="Mechanical Properties" %}
The mechanical properties are properties related to the material's strength and ability to withstand structural constraints. This drop-down lists the common yield and tensile strengths, hardness, and impact but also some composite or polymer/elastomer-specific properties.
See the [paragraph below](#defining-a-criteria-on-a-mechanical-or-physical-property) to understand the details for setting your criteria.
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="Physical Properties" %}
The physical properties are defined as all the properties relevant to material behavior that do not relate directly to material mechanical or structural constraints. Typically from this drop down the user will be selecting the density, the modulus of elasticity, or thermal, rheological, or optical properties.
The criteria for each property are defined in the same manner as for mechanical properties and details in the [paragraph below](#defining-a-mechanical-or-physical-criteria)
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="Special Search" %}
The Special Search tab includes criteria specifically for metallic materials, such as Heat Treatment Diagrams, metallographic or magnetic data.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
## Defining a criteria on a Mechanical or Physical property
It is important to understand how to use and define your criteria on mechanical and physical properties.
For these kind of properties, the user is asked to define:
* the property, as in the 'Tensile Strength' example below, the user can choose if he is searching for the 'Ultimate Tensile Strength', the 'Tensile Strength at break', the 'Tensile Strength at 100% strain'...
* The unit in which the user defines the criteria on this property
* The type of definition of the property that the algorithm will consider and search through:
* *Min: the algorithm will search through materials having a UTS defined as a minimum. The UTS minimum should be between the min and the max defined in the next fields*
* *Max: the algorithm searches through materials where the UTS is presented as a max value*
* *Value: the algorithm searches through materials where UTS is an exact value*
* *All: Any type of UTS will be considered*
* Min and Max are the values in between which the property should be contained\
\&#xNAN;*Note: Leave empty if you simply want to filter out materials having a value for that property*
* T, Min, and Max: the unit and temperature range in which the property is searched
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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation
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Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://docs.totalmateria.com/search-tools/advanced-search.md?ask=
```
The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.