discuss the difference between toughness and ductility of me
discuss the difference between toughness and ductility of metals and their relationship to strength
Solution
Ductility
Ductility of a material enables it to draw out into thin wire on application of the load. Mild steel is
a ductile material. The wires of gold, silver, copper, aluminium, etc. are drawn by extrusion or by
pulling through a hole in a die due to the ductile property. The ductility decreases with increase of
temperature.
The per cent elongation and the reduction in area in tension is often used as empirical measures
of ductility.
Toughness
The toughness of a material is its ability to withstand both plastic and elastic deformations. It is a
highly desirable quality for structural and machine parts to withstand shock and vibration. Manganese
steel, wrought iron, mild steels are tough materials.
For Ex: If a load is suddenly applied to a piece of mild steel and then to a piece of glass the
mild steel will absorb much more energy before failure occurs. Thus, mild steel is said to be much
tougher than a glass.
Toughness is a measure of the amount of energy a material can absorb before actual fracture
or failure takes place. “The work or energy a material absorbs is called modulus of toughness”
Toughness is also resistance to shock loading. It is measured by a special test on Impact Testing
Machine.
