Mechanical properties

• Mechanical properties


  associated with how a material reacts to an external force
• compressive strength


  the ability to withstand being crushed or shortened by pushing forces
• tensile strength


  the ability to resist stretching or pulling forces (tension)
• bending strength


  the ability to resist forces that may bend the material
• shear strength


  the ability to withstand sliding forces on a parallel plane
• torsional strength


  the ability to withstand twisting forces from applied torque or torsion
• hardness


  the ability to resist abrasive wear such as scratching, surface indentation or cutting
• toughness


  the ability to absorb impact force without fracture
• plasticity


  the ability to be permanently deformed and retain the deformed shape
• ductility


  the ability to be drawn out under tension, reducing the cross-sectional area without cracking, for example stretching a material into a wire
• malleability


  the ability to withstand deformation by compression without cracking. It increases with a rise in temp.
• elasticity


  the ability to be deformed and then return to the original shape when the force is removed