Elastic-brittle breakage behavior

Elastic-brittle breakage behavior is characterized by a failure which begins during elastic deformation and is attended by non-stationary cracks, where no external energy input is needed to grow the cracks with a rapid propagation velocity. 

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It is important to differentiate between brittle and plastic deformations within materials. With brittle materials, the behavior is predominandy elastic until the yield point is reached, at which breakage occurs. When fracture occurs as a result of a time-dependent strain, the material behaves in an inelastic manner. Most materials tend to be inelastic. Figure 1 shows a typical stress—strain diagram. The section A—B is the elastic region where the material obeys Hooke s law, and the slope of the line is Young s modulus. C is the yield point, where plastic deformation begins. The difference in strain between the yield point C and the ultimate yield point D gives a measure of the brittieness of the material, ie, the less difference in strain, the more britde the material. 

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