ABSTRACT
For a number of engineering applications, such as bridges, aerospace, armors for defense, semiconductor chips, and electrode materials for batteries, it is important to design the materials to sustain loads or stresses during real applications. Engineering materials are classified into three main categories, namely, metals and alloys, ceramics and glasses, and polymers. The stability of any material is dictated by the equilibrium of mechanical forces acting on it from different directions and NOT by the equilibrium of stresses. Many materials in service encounters a variety of mechanical loadings, namely, tensile, compressive, shear, and at times, a combination of them. One of the important aspects of the mechanical behavior of metals is the strengthening mechanisms, which are essentially physical mechanisms activated as dislocations glide on slip planes.
