2030 – 07 – What is Ductility?

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Ductility is how much a metal may be stretched, bent, or permanently altered before it breaks. If a metal is ductile, it will be much easier to shape into a more workable material – and it will be easier to cold work.
Ductility can be measured two ways during a tensile test. You can either measure how long the test piece is after the test or the reduction in diameter. A ductile material will display as a gradual slope on the stress strain graph. Once a ductile metal has undergone elastic deformation, it may remain in the plastic deformation stage while outside forces act on it. A brittle material will break soon after it has ended its elastic stage.