We explain what the ductility of matter is, how it manifests itself and examples of ductile materials. Also, what is malleability.
What is ductility?
Ductility is one of the mechanical properties of matter, which consists of the ability to deform plastically without breaking. It is a common property of metal alloys or asphalt materials. If the material is subjected to the action of a sustained force acting at opposite ends, its shape is modified to form threads, but the material does not break.
Materials that have this property are known as ductile, and are commonly classified as the opposite of brittle, since their failure occurs only after supporting large deformations. The stage in which ductile material stretches and elongates before breaking is called the creep phase ; Once this point is exceeded, the deformations are irreversible and permanent.
Ductile materials are widely used in the materials industry, since threads, wires and other presentations can be obtained from them. Furthermore, these are resilient, elastic materials, whose particles are easy to slide over each other.
See also: Elasticity in physics
Examples of ductile materials
Some examples of ductile materials are:
- The bronze
- brass
- The steel
- The gold
- The iron
- The silver
- The platinum
- aluminum
- copper
- The lead
Ductility and malleability
Just as ductility exists in most metals, malleability is also common in this type of materials. This other mechanical property consists of ability to be laminated without breaking that is, to be molded into thin sheets, through compression procedures.
These procedures are very important in the steel industry, since it is much easier to transport and store certain sheet materials.
Malleable materials, unlike ductile materials, do not form threads when stretched, although the same material can be ductile and malleable at the same time. These are cases of malleable materials: gold, aluminum, silver, copper, platinum and iron.
Continue with: Tenacity
References
- “Ductility” on Wikipedia.
- “Ductility” in Mecapedia, Virtual Encyclopedia of Mechanical Engineering.
- “Ductility” in Enciclopedia.us.
- “Mechanical Properties” in Digital Content from the University of La Plata.
- “Malleability and Ductility” (video) in Moo Moo Math and Science.
