Mechanical Properties

· Temperature may have an effect on the fracture response of a material.
· Above a certain temperature a material may be ductile but below this temperature it can become brittle at the same rate of deformation (strain rate).

From: Callister, "Materials Science and Engineering," Wiley (1994)

· The effect of low temperatures on the mechanical response of a large structure is illustrated below.
· It is now believed that the sinking of the Titanic may have been caused by the brittle fracture of some of its plates upon the impact with the iceberg.