Ductility is a desirable quality in metals, allowing them to be stretched without breaking. Tensile strength measures how far a material can stretch, while malleability measures how much pressure it can withstand. The bend test is commonly used to determine ductility. Gold and silver are the most ductile metals, while steel’s ductility can vary. Cold temperatures can make metals less ductile. Fabricators typically choose the more ductile metal when designing.
Ductility is the ability of a material, such as steel, to be drawn into fine wires or flat sheets without tearing or breaking. Materials that are extremely ductile can be stretched until they break and lose their strength. This is a desirable quality, especially in metals. Manufacturers want materials that won’t break even when thin pieces are required.
To measure the ductility of a material, the tester typically takes a measurement of the material’s tensile strength. Tensile strength looks at how far the material can stretch without breaking. This ability is similar to malleability, though each has a slight difference. Instead of measuring tensile strength, or essentially how much metal can stretch, malleability measures how much pressure a material can withstand without cracking or breaking. This type of pressure is known as a compressive force.
A metal can be both ductile and malleable, or it can be just one. For example, a metal might have both, meaning it holds up well under pressure and can be stretched into fine strands. Another metal, however, might have the ability to hold up well under pressure, but start to break when stretched. This second metal would be malleable but not very ductile.
When it is necessary to determine the ductility of a material, a commonly used method is the bend test. A thin wire or sheet of the material is placed into a machine which applies force to a certain point at a specific angle. A set amount of force is exerted on the material for a set amount of time. Next, the material is checked to see how it held up during the test. The more ductile the material, the better the bending test will be.
Gold and silver are classified as the most ductile metals. While steel is a common metal used in manufacturing and engineering, its ability to stretch can change depending on the elements in the steel itself. While metals have a certain level of this ability, it can be increased or decreased based on how metals are made and how they are created.
Metals that have high ductility can be made more brittle. This usually occurs from a change in temperature used on the metal. Cold temperatures can create less ductile metals. When choosing between two metals that are the same in other respects, a fabricator will typically choose the more ductile metal to use in his or her design.
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