The Reaction of Metals to Force: An Examination of the Fundamentals of Resistance to Stress, with Particular Reference to the Importance of Ductility

This paper deals with a few of the properties of metals under uniform stress distribution. Consideration is then given to non‐uniform stress conditions, and the importance of the ductility of alloys after the limit of proportionality is passed. Particular reference is made to the light alloys used for primary aircraft structures and, finally, a tentative explanation is put forward to explain the manner in which the basic atomic structure, the metal lattice, reacts to stress conditions.