page_title: Plasticity (physics)
section_title: Physical mechanisms
hierarchical_section_title: Plasticity (physics) / Physical mechanisms
caption_attribution_description: English: Plasticity under a Nanoindenter in (111) Copper. Simulation result from a MD simulation on (111) Copper modelled with the EAM potential of Mishin. All particles in ideal lattice positions are omitted and the color code refers to the von Mises stress field.
context_page_description: 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. 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, foams. However, the physical mechanisms that cause plastic deformation can vary widely. At a crystalline scale, plasticity in metals is usually a consequence of dislocations. Such defects are relatively rare in most crystalline materials, but are numerous in some and part 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.
caption: Plasticity under a spherical nanoindenter in (111) copper. All particles in ideal lattice positions are omitted and the color code refers to the von Mises stress field.
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