Crossword clues for brittleness
brittleness
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Brittleness \Brit"tle*ness\, n. Aptness to break; fragility.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The property by virtue of which a material is fractured without appreciable deformation by the application of load. 2 The state of being brittle; aptness to break; fragility.
WordNet
n. firm but easily broken [syn: crispness, crispiness]
Wikipedia
A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it breaks without significant deformation ( strain). Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior to fracture, even those of high strength. Breaking is often accompanied by a snapping sound. Brittle materials include most ceramics and glasses (which do not deform plastically) and some polymers, such as PMMA and polystyrene. Many steels become brittle at low temperatures (see ductile-brittle transition temperature), depending on their composition and processing.
When used in materials science, it is generally applied to materials that fail when there is little or no evidence of plastic deformation before failure. One proof is to match the broken halves, which should fit exactly since no plastic deformation has occurred.
When a material has reached the limit of its strength, it usually has the option of either deformation or fracture. A naturally malleable metal can be made stronger by impeding the mechanisms of plastic deformation (reducing grain size, precipitation hardening, work hardening, etc.), but if this is taken to an extreme, fracture becomes the more likely outcome, and the material can become brittle. Improving material toughness is therefore a balancing act.
Usage examples of "brittleness".
But her body when tipsy has a brittleness, an unconnectedness, that feels disagreeable in his arms.
He dragged Ben Jonson grumbling from his long sleep and made him sing: Ale and Anacreon, Beer and Boethius, Sack and Sophocles, these Please my heart More than the farting littleness, Borborygmic brittleness, Jokes and japes Of the apes and jackanapes One sees Courting the great At court, on estate -- Fleas!
Houses in April were new divorcées with all the accompanying brittleness and desperation.
He heard the brittleness in her voice, knew what it masked, and bowed, in shaken gratitude, touched his brow to the hearthstones, sat up again.
Modern superglues are packaged with stabilizers and thickeners and catalysts and gels, improving heat capacity, reducing brittleness, improving resistance to damp and acids and alkalis.