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Plasticity (physics)
In physics and materials science, plasticity (also known
as plastic deformation) is the ability of a solid material
to undergo permanent deformation, a non-reversible
change of shape in response to applied forces.[1][2] For
example, a solid piece of metal being bent or pounded
into a new shape displays plasticity as permanent
changes occur within the material itself. In engineering,
the transition from elastic behavior to plastic behavior is
known as yielding.

Plastic deformation is observed in most materials,

particularly metals, soils, rocks, concrete, and
foams.[3][4][5][6] However, the physical mechanisms that Stress–strain curve showing typical yield
cause plastic deformation can vary widely. At a crystalline behavior for nonferrous alloys. (Stress, ,
scale, plasticity in metals is usually a consequence of shown as a function of strain, .)
dislocations. Such defects are relatively rare in most 1. True elastic limit 3. Elastic limit
crystalline materials, but are numerous in some and part
2. Proportionality limit4. Offset yield strength
of their crystal structure; in such cases, plastic
crystallinity can result. In brittle materials such as rock,
concrete and bone, plasticity is caused predominantly by
slip at microcracks. In cellular materials such as liquid foams or biological tissues, plasticity is mainly a
consequence of bubble or cell rearrangements, notably T1 processes.

For many ductile metals, tensile loading applied to a sample will cause it to behave in an elastic
manner. Each increment of load is accompanied by a proportional increment in extension. When the
load is removed, the piece returns to its original size. However, once the load exceeds a threshold – the
yield strength – the extension increases more rapidly than in the elastic region; now when the load is
removed, some degree of extension will remain.

Elastic deformation, however, is an approximation and its quality depends on the time frame
considered and loading speed. If, as indicated in the graph opposite, the deformation includes elastic
deformation, it is also often referred to as "elasto-plastic deformation" or "elastic-plastic deformation".

Perfect plasticity is a property of materials to undergo irreversible deformation without any increase in
stresses or loads. Plastic materials that have been hardened by prior deformation, such as cold
forming, may need increasingly higher stresses to deform further. Generally, plastic deformation is also
dependent on the deformation speed, i.e. higher stresses usually have to be applied to increase the rate
of deformation. Such materials are said to deform visco-plastically.

Contributing properties

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The plasticity of a material is directly proportional to the

ductility and malleability of the material.

Physical mechanisms

In metals

Plasticity in a crystal of pure metal is primarily caused by

two modes of deformation in the crystal lattice: slip and
twinning. Slip is a shear deformation which moves the
atoms through many interatomic distances relative to
their initial positions. Twinning is the plastic deformation
which takes place along two planes due to a set of forces
applied to a given metal piece.

Most metals show more plasticity when hot than when A stress–strain curve typical of structural steel.
cold. Lead shows sufficient plasticity at room
temperature, while cast iron does not possess sufficient 1. Ultimate strength
plasticity for any forging operation even when hot. This 2. Yield strength (yield point)
property is of importance in forming, shaping and 3. Rupture
extruding operations on metals. Most metals are
rendered plastic by heating and hence shaped hot. 4. Strain hardening region
5. Necking region
A. Apparent stress (F/A0)
Slip systems
B. Actual stress (F/A)
Crystalline materials contain uniform planes of atoms
organized with long-range order. Planes may slip past
each other along their close-packed directions, as is shown on the
slip systems page. The result is a permanent change of shape within
the crystal and plastic deformation. The presence of dislocations
increases the likelihood of planes.

Reversible plasticity

On the nanoscale the primary plastic deformation in simple face-

centered cubic metals is reversible, as long as there is no material
transport in form of cross-slip.[7] Shape-memory alloys such as
Nitinol wire also exhibit a reversible form of plasticity which is
more properly called pseudoelasticity. Plasticity under a spherical
nanoindenter in (111) copper. All
particles in ideal lattice positions are
Shear banding omitted and the color code refers to
the von Mises stress field.

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The presence of other defects within a crystal may entangle dislocations or otherwise prevent them
from gliding. When this happens, plasticity is localized to particular regions in the material. For
crystals, these regions of localized plasticity are called shear bands.

Microplasticity

Microplasticity is a local phenomenon in metals. It occurs for stress values where the metal is globally
in the elastic domain while some local areas are in the plastic domain.[8]

Amorphous materials

Crazing

In amorphous materials, the discussion of "dislocations" is inapplicable, since the entire material lacks
long range order. These materials can still undergo plastic deformation. Since amorphous materials,
like polymers, are not well-ordered, they contain a large amount of free volume, or wasted space.
Pulling these materials in tension opens up these regions and can give materials a hazy appearance.
This haziness is the result of crazing, where fibrils are formed within the material in regions of high
hydrostatic stress. The material may go from an ordered appearance to a "crazy" pattern of strain and
stretch marks.

Cellular materials

These materials plastically deform when the bending moment exceeds the fully plastic moment. This
applies to open cell foams where the bending moment is exerted on the cell walls. The foams can be
made of any material with a plastic yield point which includes rigid polymers and metals. This method
of modeling the foam as beams is only valid if the ratio of the density of the foam to the density of the
matter is less than 0.3. This is because beams yield axially instead of bending. In closed cell foams, the
yield strength is increased if the material is under tension because of the membrane that spans the face
of the cells.

Soils and sand

Soils, particularly clays, display a significant amount of inelasticity under load. The causes of plasticity
in soils can be quite complex and are strongly dependent on the microstructure, chemical composition,
and water content. Plastic behavior in soils is caused primarily by the rearrangement of clusters of
adjacent grains.

Rocks and concrete

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Inelastic deformations of rocks and concrete are primarily caused by the formation of microcracks and
sliding motions relative to these cracks. At high temperatures and pressures, plastic behavior can also
be affected by the motion of dislocations in individual grains in the microstructure.

Time-independent yielding and plastic flow in crystalline

materials[9]
Time-independent plastic flow in both single crystals and polycrystals is defined by a
critical/maximum resolved shear stress (τCRSS), initiating dislocation migration along parallel slip
planes of a single slip system, thereby defining the transition from elastic to plastic deformation
behavior in crystalline materials.

Time-independent yielding and plastic flow in single crystals

The critical resolved shear stress for single crystals is defined by Schmid’s law τCRSS=σy/m, where σy is
the yield strength of the single crystal and m is the Schmid factor. The Schmid factor comprises two
variables λ and φ, defining the angle between the slip plane direction and the tensile force applied, and
the angle between the slip plane normal and the tensile force applied, respectively. Notably, because m
> 1, σy > τCRSS.

Critical resolved shear stress dependence on temperature, strain rate, and point defects

There are three characteristic regions of the critical resolved shear

stress as a function of temperature. In the low temperature region 1
(T ≤ 0.25Tm), the strain rate must be high to achieve high τCRSS
which is required to initiate dislocation glide and equivalently
plastic flow. In region 1, the critical resolved shear stress has two
components: athermal (τa) and thermal (τ*) shear stresses, arising
from the stress required to move dislocations in the presence of
other dislocations, and the resistance of point defect obstacles to
dislocation migration, respectively. At T = T*, the moderate
temperature region 2 (0.25Tm < T < 0.7Tm) is defined, where the The three characteristic regions of
thermal shear stress component τ* → 0, representing the the critical resolved shear stress as
elimination of point defect impedance to dislocation migration. a function of temperature.
Thus the temperature-independent critical resolved shear stress
τCRSS = τa remains so until region 3 is defined. Notably, in region 2
moderate temperature time-dependent plastic deformation (creep) mechanisms such as solute-drag
should be considered. Furthermore, in the high temperature region 3 (T ≥ 0.7Tm) έ can be low,
contributing to low τCRSS, however plastic flow will still occur due to thermally activated high
temperature time-dependent plastic deformation mechanisms such as Nabarro–Herring (NH) and
Coble diffusional flow through the lattice and along the single crystal surfaces, respectively, as well as
dislocation climb-glide creep.

Stages of time-independent plastic flow, post yielding

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During the easy glide stage 1, the work hardening rate, defined by
the change in shear stress with respect to shear strain (dτ/dγ) is
low, representative of a small amount of applied shear stress
necessary to induce a large amount of shear strain. Facile
dislocation glide and corresponding flow is attributed to dislocation
migration along parallel slip planes only (i.e. one slip system).
Moderate impedance to dislocation migration along parallel slip
planes is exhibited according to the weak stress field interactions
between these dislocations, which heightens with smaller
interplanar spacing. Overall, these migrating dislocations within a
The three stages of time-
single slip system act as weak obstacles to flow, and a modest rise
independent plastic deformation of
in stress is observed in comparison to the yield stress. During the
single crystals.
linear hardening stage 2 of flow, the work hardening rate becomes
high as considerable stress is required to overcome the stress field
interactions of dislocations migrating on non-parallel slip planes
(i.e. multiple slip systems), acting as strong obstacles to flow. Much stress is required to drive continual
dislocation migration for small strains. The shear flow stress is directly proportional to the square root
of the dislocation density (τflow ~ρ½), irrespective of the evolution of dislocation configurations,
displaying the reliance of hardening on the number of dislocations present. Regarding this evolution of
dislocation configurations, at small strains the dislocation arrangement is a random 3D array of
intersecting lines. Moderate strains correspond to cellular dislocation structures of heterogeneous
dislocation distribution with large dislocation density at the cell boundaries, and small dislocation
density within the cell interior. At even larger strains the cellular dislocation structure reduces in size
until a minimum size is achieved. Finally, the work hardening rate becomes low again in the
exhaustion/saturation of hardening stage 3 of plastic flow, as small shear stresses produce large shear
strains. Notably, instances when multiple slip systems are oriented favorably with respect to the
applied stress, the τCRSS for these systems may be similar and yielding may occur according to
dislocation migration along multiple slip systems with non-parallel slip planes, displaying a stage 1
work-hardening rate typically characteristic of stage 2. Lastly, distinction between time-independent
plastic deformation in body-centered cubic transition metals and face centered cubic metals is
summarized below.

Comparison between the time-independent plastic deformation of body centered cubic transition metals and face
centered cubic metals, highlighting the critical resolved shear stress, work hardening rate, and necking strain during
tensile testing.
Body-centered cubic transition metals Face-centered cubic metals

Critical resolved shear stress = high (relatively) & strongly Critical resolved shear stress = low (relatively) & weakly
temperature-dependent temperature-dependent
Work hardening rate = temperature-independent Work hardening rate = temperature-dependent

Necking strain increases with temperature Necking strain decreases with temperature

Time-independent yielding and plastic flow in polycrystals

Plasticity in polycrystals differs substantially from that in single crystals due to the presence of grain
boundary (GB) planar defects, which act as very strong obstacles to plastic flow by impeding
dislocation migration along the entire length of the activated slip plane(s). Hence, dislocations cannot
pass from one grain to another across the grain boundary. The following sections explore specific GB
requirements for extensive plastic deformation of polycrystals prior to fracture, as well as the influence
of microscopic yielding within individual crystallites on macroscopic yielding of the polycrystal. The
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critical resolved shear stress for polycrystals is defined by Schmid’s law as well (τCRSS=σy/ṁ), where σy
is the yield strength of the polycrystal and ṁ is the weighted Schmid factor. The weighted Schmid factor
reflects the least favorably oriented slip system among the most favorably oriented slip systems of the
grains constituting the GB.

Grain boundary constraint in polycrystals

The GB constraint for polycrystals can be explained by considering a grain boundary in the xz plane
between two single crystals A and B of identical composition, structure, and slip systems, but
misoriented with respect to each other. To ensure that voids do not form between individually
deforming grains, the GB constraint for the bicrystal is as follows: εxxA = εxxB (the x-axial strain at the
GB must be equivalent for A and B), εzzA = εzzB (the z-axial strain at the GB must be equivalent for A
and B), and εxzA = εxzB (the xz shear strain along the xz-GB plane must be equivalent for A and B). In
addition, this GB constraint requires that five independent slip systems be activated per crystallite
constituting the GB. Notably, because independent slip systems are defined as slip planes on which
dislocation migrations cannot be reproduced by any combination of dislocation migrations along other
slip system’s planes, the number of geometrical slip systems for a given crystal system - which by
definition can be constructed by slip system combinations - is typically greater than that of
independent slip systems. Significantly, there is a maximum of five independent slip systems for each
of the seven crystal systems, however, not all seven crystal systems acquire this upper limit. In fact,
even within a given crystal system, the composition and Bravais lattice diversifies the number of
independent slip systems (see the table below). In cases for which crystallites of a polycrystal do not
obtain five independent slip systems, the GB condition cannot be met, and thus the time-independent
deformation of individual crystallites results in cracks and voids at the GBs of the polycrystal, and soon
fracture is realized. Hence, for a given composition and structure, a single crystal with less than five
independent slip systems is stronger (exhibiting a greater extent of plasticity) than its polycrystalline
form.

The number of independent slip systems for a given composition (primary

material class) and structure (Bravais lattice).[10][11]
Bravais lattice Primary material class: # Independent slip systems
Face centered cubic Metal: 5, ceramic (covalent): 5, ceramic (ionic): 2

Body centered cubic Metal: 5

Simple cubic Ceramic (ionic): 3

Hexagonal Metal: 2, ceramic (mixed): 2

Implications of the grain boundary constraint in polycrystals

Although the two crystallites A and B discussed in the above section have identical slip systems, they
are misoriented with respect to each other, and therefore misoriented with respect to the applied force.
Thus, microscopic yielding within a crystallite interior may occur according to the rules governing
single crystal time-independent yielding. Eventually, the activated slip planes within the grain interiors
will permit dislocation migration to the GB where many dislocations then pile up as geometrically
necessary dislocations. This pile up corresponds to strain gradients across individual grains as the
dislocation density near the GB is greater than that in the grain interior, imposing a stress on the
adjacent grain in contact. When considering the AB bicrystal as a whole, the most favorably oriented
slip system in A will not be the that in B, and hence τACRSS ≠ τBCRSS. Paramount is the fact that

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macroscopic yielding of the bicrystal is prolonged until the higher value of τCRSS between grains A and
B is achieved, according to the GB constraint. Thus, for a given composition and structure, a
polycrystal with five independent slip systems is stronger (greater extent of plasticity) than its single
crystalline form. Correspondingly, the work hardening rate will be higher for the polycrystal than the
single crystal, as more stress is required in the polycrystal to produce strains. Importantly, just as with
single crystal flow stress, τflow ~ρ½, but is also inversely proportional to the square root of average
grain diameter (τflow ~d-½ ). Therefore, the flow stress of a polycrystal, and hence the polycrystal’s
strength, increases with small grain size. The reason for this is that smaller grains have a relatively
smaller number of slip planes to be activated, corresponding to a fewer number of dislocations
migrating to the GBs, and therefore less stress induced on adjacent grains due to dislocation pile up. In
addition, for a given volume of polycrystal, smaller grains present more strong obstacle grain
boundaries. These two factors provide an understanding as to why the onset of macroscopic flow in
fine-grained polycrystals occurs at larger applied stresses than in coarse-grained polycrystals.

Mathematical descriptions

Deformation theory

There are several mathematical descriptions of plasticity.[12] One is

deformation theory (see e.g. Hooke's law) where the Cauchy stress
tensor (of order d-1 in d dimensions) is a function of the strain
tensor. Although this description is accurate when a small part of
matter is subjected to increasing loading (such as strain loading),
this theory cannot account for irreversibility.

Ductile materials can sustain large plastic deformations without An idealized uniaxial stress-strain
fracture. However, even ductile metals will fracture when the strain
curve showing elastic and plastic
becomes large enough—this is as a result of work hardening of the deformation regimes for the
material, which causes it to become brittle. Heat treatment such as deformation theory of plasticity
annealing can restore the ductility of a worked piece, so that
shaping can continue.

Flow plasticity theory

In 1934, Egon Orowan, Michael Polanyi and Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, roughly simultaneously, realized
that the plastic deformation of ductile materials could be explained in terms of the theory of
dislocations. The mathematical theory of plasticity, flow plasticity theory, uses a set of non-linear, non-
integrable equations to describe the set of changes on strain and stress with respect to a previous state
and a small increase of deformation.

Yield criteria

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If the stress exceeds a critical value, as was mentioned above, the

material will undergo plastic, or irreversible, deformation. This
critical stress can be tensile or compressive. The Tresca and the von
Mises criteria are commonly used to determine whether a material
has yielded. However, these criteria have proved inadequate for a
large range of materials and several other yield criteria are also in
widespread use.

Tresca criterion

The Tresca criterion is based on the notion that when a material

fails, it does so in shear, which is a relatively good assumption
when considering metals. Given the principal stress state, we can Comparison of Tresca criterion to
use Mohr's circle to solve for the maximum shear stresses our Von Mises criterion
material will experience and conclude that the material will fail if

where σ1 is the maximum normal stress, σ3 is the minimum normal stress, and σ0 is the stress under
which the material fails in uniaxial loading. A yield surface may be constructed, which provides a visual
representation of this concept. Inside of the yield surface, deformation is elastic. On the surface,
deformation is plastic. It is impossible for a material to have stress states outside its yield surface.

Huber–von Mises criterion

The Huber–von Mises criterion[13] is based on the Tresca criterion

but takes into account the assumption that hydrostatic stresses do
not contribute to material failure. M. T. Huber was the first who
proposed the criterion of shear energy.[14][15] Von Mises solves for
an effective stress under uniaxial loading, subtracting out
hydrostatic stresses, and states that all effective stresses greater
than that which causes material failure in uniaxial loading will
result in plastic deformation.

The von Mises yield surfaces in

principal stress coordinates
circumscribes a cylinder around the
hydrostatic axis. Also shown is
Tresca's hexagonal yield surface.

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Again, a visual representation of the yield surface may be constructed using the above equation, which
takes the shape of an ellipse. Inside the surface, materials undergo elastic deformation. Reaching the
surface means the material undergoes plastic deformations.

See also
Atterberg limits
Deformation (mechanics)
Deformation (engineering)
Plastometer
Poisson's ratio

References
1. Lubliner, Jacob (2008). Plasticity theory. Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-46290-5.
2. Bigoni, Davide (2012). Nonlinear Solid Mechanics: Bifurcation Theory and Material Instability.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-02541-7.
3. Jirásek, Milan; Bažant, Zdeněk P. (2002). Inelastic analysis of structures. John Wiley and Sons.
ISBN 0-471-98716-6.
4. Chen, Wai-Fah (2008). Limit Analysis and Soil Plasticity. J. Ross Publishing. ISBN 978-1-932159-
73-8.
5. Yu, Mao-Hong; Ma, Guo-Wei; Qiang, Hong-Fu; Zhang, Yong-Qiang (2006). Generalized Plasticity.
Springer. ISBN 3-540-25127-8.
6. Chen, Wai-Fah (2007). Plasticity in Reinforced Concrete. J. Ross Publishing. ISBN 978-1-932159-
74-5.
7. Ziegenhain, Gerolf; and Urbassek, Herbert M.; "Reversible Plasticity in fcc metals" in Philosophical
Magazine Letters, 89(11):717-723, 2009 DOI 10.1080/09500830903272900 (https://dx.doi.org/10.1
080/09500830903272900)
8. Maaß, Robert; Derlet, Peter M. (January 2018). "Micro-plasticity and recent insights from
intermittent and small-scale plasticity". Acta Materialia. 143: 338–363. arXiv:1704.07297 (https://arx
iv.org/abs/1704.07297). Bibcode:2018AcMat.143..338M (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018Ac
Mat.143..338M). doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2017.06.023 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.actamat.2017.06.
023). S2CID 119387816 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:119387816).
9. Courtney, Thomas (2005). Mechanical Behavior of Materials (Second ed.). Long Grove, Illinois:
Waveland Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-57766-425-3.
10. Partridge, Peter (1969). Deformation and Fatigue of Hexagonal Close Packed Metals. University of
Surrey.
11. Groves, Geoffrey W.; Kelly, Anthony (1963). "Independent Slip Systems in Crystals". Philosophical
Magazine. 8 (89): 877–887. Bibcode:1963PMag....8..877G (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1963
PMag....8..877G). doi:10.1080/14786436308213843 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F14786436308213
843).
12. Hill, Rodney (1998). The Mathematical Theory of Plasticity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-
850367-9.
13. von Mises, Richard (1913). "Mechanik der festen Körper im plastisch-deformablen Zustand" (http://
www.digizeitschriften.de/dms/resolveppn/?PID=GDZPPN002503697). Nachrichten von der
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen. Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse. 1913 (1):
582–592.

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14. Huber, Maksymilian Tytus (1904). "Właściwa praca odkształcenia jako miara wytezenia materiału".
Czasopismo Techniczne. Lwów. 22. Translated as "Specific Work of Strain as a Measure of
Material Effort" (http://am.ippt.pan.pl/am/article/viewFile/v56p173/pdf). Archives of Mechanics. 56:
173–190. 2004.
15. See Timoshenko, Stephen P. (1953). History of Strength of Materials (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=tkScQmyhsb8C&pg=PA369). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 369. ISBN 9780486611877.

Further reading
Ashby, Michael F. (2001). "Plastic Deformation of Cellular Materials". Encyclopedia of Materials:
Science and Technology. Vol. 7. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 7068–7071. ISBN 0-08-043152-6.
Han, Weimin; Reddy, B. Daya (2013). Plasticity: Mathematical Theory and Numerical Analysis
(2nd ed.). New York: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4614-5939-2.
Kachanov, Lazar' Markovich (2004). Fundamentals of the Theory of Plasticity. Dover Books.
ISBN 0-486-43583-0.
Khan, Akhtar S.; Huang, Sujian (1995). Continuum Theory of Plasticity. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-31043-
3.
Simo, Juan C.; Hughes, Thomas J. R. (1998). Computational Inelasticity. Springer. ISBN 0-387-
97520-9.
Van Vliet, Krystyn J. (2006). "Mechanical Behavior of Materials" (https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/materi
als-science-and-engineering/3-032-mechanical-behavior-of-materials-fall-2007/). MIT Course
Number 3.032. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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