Yes, this is often something that we all get confused about:
At the elastic limit, the material does not move back to its original limit, but it still moves back a little. Like it gets deformed yes, but it still springs back, and becomes less than the extended length.
But the yield point is the point at which there is no going back. At this point the material shows plastic behavior, as the length to which u extend it remains like that, at this point slide between the molecules occur, as in the cations in the metal slide over each other and cannot go back to its original length, as the metal loses this energy as heat.
Now toughness and strength
toughness is basically the ability how much stress is required to get the material to its elastic limit, thus talking about tensile stress.
strength of a material is its ability to resist being necked, thus it is talking about compressive stress.
Hey, thanks for that
if u let me, ill add this which i copied from this website:
Strength refers to resistance to deformation, and also to a large elastic range.
At a point called the yield point, the relationship between stress and strain depart from linear, and the material yields meaning that permanent or inelastic and plastic deformation occur.
Beyond the yield point , less stress is required for a given amount of strain (deformation). This proceeds up to the ultimate tensile strength, which is where uniform elongation is measured. At this point, a tensile specimen begins to 'neck', i.e. the change in cross-section becomes non-uniform.
Also, beyond the ultimate tensile strength, the strain increases without additional stress. If the load is not immediately removed, the material will strain to failure.
Toughness is the resistance to failure or crack propagation. It is somewhat related to strength. Very strong materials will have low toughness, i.e. low tolerance for flaws or defects, i.e. incipient cracks.
Toughness relates to the amount of energy absorbed in order to propagate a crack. Materials with high toughness require greater energy (by virtue of force or stress) to maintain crack propagation. Toughness is described in terms of a stress intensity factor (K)