Plasticity (physics)

property of materials

thumb|Ductile failure of a metallic specimen strained axially

phenomenon of deformation due to structural stress

mathematical model describing the response of a brittle material to mechanical stresses and to define shear strength of soils and rocks

concept in continuum mechanics

Geometric representation of material yield

theory

thumb|upright=1.1|Figure 1. Elements used in one-dimensional models of viscoplastic materials.

concept in physics

thumb|Crazes in polystyrene (PS) Crazing is a yielding mechanism in polymers characterized by the formation of a fine network of microvoids and fibrils. These structures (known as crazes) typically appear as linear features and frequently precede brittle fracture. The fundamental difference between crazes and cracks is that crazes contain polymer fibrils (5-30 nm in diameter), constituting about 50% of their volume, whereas cracks do not. Unlike cracks, crazes can transmit load between their two faces through these fibrils.