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.
22.
"' Precipitation hardening "', also called "'age hardening "', is a heat treatment technique used to increase the yield strength of malleable materials, including most structural alloys of aluminium, magnesium, nickel, titanium, and some steels and stainless steels.
23.
Nicholson was elected to the ( US ) National Academy of Engineering in 1983, with a citation for his leadership in government / industry engineering policy, in bio-engineering, in theory of precipitation hardening in metals ( his research field in the early 1960s ), and in solar energy materials systems.
