The term “metal” encompasses a substantial percentage of the periodic table of elements. Metals are generally characterized by good electrical and thermal conductivity, luster, and, dependent on the metal in question, significant malleability, ductility, and tensile strength.

Most metals are solids at room temperature and they usually form metallic bonds readily. Metals form a major part of all product market segments owing to their apparent desirable properties and adaptability.

This paper will address metals, their properties, uses and types.

What Is Metal?

Metal elements are distinctive based on a set of physical and chemical properties. Typically metals are found to the left on the periodic table where they form positive ions, or cations, while loosing electrons.

These cations then become metallic bonds with free moving electrons or conduction electrons, which can rotate among the atoms of the metal elements. It is the determination of properties of metals along with being ductile, conducting electrically, very strong, etc.

What Are the Different Properties of Metal?

The common properties of metals are listed and discussed below:

1. Density

Density is a fundamental physical property that defines the ratio of mass to volume. Generally speaking, metals have a greater density than nonmetals.

Thus, density corresponds to atomic structure, atomic number/mass and crystalline/atomic structure packing. Metal density depends on variation in composition, temperature, and pressure; also, as it has been reported pure metals have a greater density than alloys.

2. Electronegativity

Electronegativity is the ability of an atom to attract electrons during the bond formation of a molecule. In the case of metals, electronegativity allows us to understand their likely chemical behaviors and how they will interact chemically.

Metals have low electronegativities compared to non-metals, indicating the attraction they exert on electrons when forming bonds is weak.

Because of weak electron attractions, metals have a tendency to donate electrons to adjacent atoms, forming positively charged ions (also known as cations). The cations then form ionic compounds or metallic bonds.

In the case of bond formation, metal ions are surrounded by a sea of delocalized electrons. This allows metals to be very good conductors of electricity and heat.

When metals react with non-metals, they will more than likely form ionic compounds that tend to have high melting points.

Some reactions will produce impermeable oxide coatings, which help prevent corrosion (aluminum oxide and chromium oxide). Other reactions, i.e., iron oxide (rust) allow continuous degradation. In fact, almost all metals will readily oxidize if conditions allow.

3. Luster

Luster is how light interacts with a material’s surface and how much of it gets reflected to the ability to observe. Metals have a well-defined electron configuration and unlimited metallic bonds, which leads to extreme electromagnetic (EM) reflection.

When light contacts a metal lattice, the delocalized electrons interact with the photons of EM radiation at the appropriate frequency. Some EM radiation, such as visible light, is absorbed and re-emitted very easily, thus the luster of the macroscopic surface can be bright.

Luster can be minimized with surface finish, purity, and crystal structure, with bright shiny surfaces having greater luster than dull surfaces. Luster has practical importance beyond aesthetics and reflects infrared, radio-frequency EM waves, etc..

4. Malleability

Malleability is a measure of a material’s resistance to compressive stress without fracturing or deforming. The malleability is also the metric that allows understanding of metals’ malleability and different uses.

If it were not for metals’ metallic bonds and regularly ordered crystalline structure, metal atoms would be unable to slide past one another when sufficient applied pressure is placed, and malleable metals only maintain lattice formation with metallic bonding due to the de-localized electrons that are about the metal ions.

There are variations of malleability based on the microscopic crystal structure, the temperature of the exposure, and purity of the metal. Malleability is highest in the metals that have a closest-packed microstructure (gold and silver). Malleability can be used in forging, stamping, rolling, etc.

5. Opacity

The opacity of metals in the visible spectrum is derived from their electronic structure. When light meets a metal surface, electrons are free to absorb or scatter photons and thus do not allow light to travel in a straight path.

The scattering of the photon prevents the light from passing through the surface of the metal, creating the property of opacity. Metals will absorb a large number of wavelengths of light even in the visible spectrum, and they are about as opaque even thought they are reflective.

The electronic structure of metals along with the mobility of the electrons in their lattice structure, and the light scattering properties will combine to give metals a level of opacity that is less able depending on the frequency of visible light.

Furthermore, almost all frequencies of light other than visible light are subject to metals reflective properties. This has implications for laser-based machining types of processes, thermal control or thermal dissipation as well as aesthetic applications.

6. Ductility

The ductility of metals dictates the degree to which a metal may successfully be drawn out into useful forms. High degrees of ductility arise from metallic bonding; individual layers of atoms, when put under stress, will slide past one another.

Ductility varies from one metal to the next and is also associated with purity, crystalline structure, etc. Metals with tightly packed crystal structures, as in gold and silver, have more ductility.

Ductility is an extremely important property for metals which are drawn out into wires, rods or thin sheets, as in electrical wiring, cables, metal foils and so on.

But ductility also describes the ability to make more complex shapes and individual components through the processes of forging, extrusion, and rolling.

7. Hardness

Hardness is a property of materials, that has to do with how resistant they are to deformation, scratching, or penetration. In the case of metals, hardness is a practical concern because it pertains to how long the products made of these metals will last.

Hardness is typically measured using standardized methods such as the Rockwell, Vickers, or Brinell methods.

In metals, the atomic structure and bonding are the most influential aspects of the hardness of metals, and generally, tight packed crystal structures such as face-centered cubic (FCC), body-centered cubic (BCC), or hexagonal close-packed will translate into harder metals; other things being equal; alloying elements, grain size, and heat treatment can also play a role in hardness.

Hardness is an important consideration for many materials where the function of the material is not only an aesthetic material; there are hard metals that normally function as work functions in tools and thin hard-wearing coatings, whereas soft metals usually provide important work functions in resilient structural members of buildings and vehicles.

8. Conductivity

Conductivity is the property of a material that enables it to conduct electricity or heat. Both properties are important in a large number of metal applications.

In a metal’s crystal structure, free electrons allow for excellent flow of electrical current. This is especially important for applications concerning wiring, circuits, and electronics because the free electrons in a wire allow the connection of electrical components or even the same being a circuit.

Metals typically have high conductivity for thermal applications as well because heat can be transferred via lattice vibration and free electrons.

A broad range of applications, some including heat exchangers and cooking utensils, involve the transfer of heat using metals and free electrons.

The crystal structure, purity and other factors play a role in conductivity, but a more dense crystal structure (copper, silver) improves the properties.

These conductive properties are undoubtedly a consideration when choosing a material for electronic applications and thermal management items.

9. High Tensile Strength

Tensile strength is the ability of a material to resist tensile forces without any permanent change. This matters for possible applications of structures or load-bearing or weight-bearing applications, as tensile strengths in metals will generally far exceed tensile strengths in polymers or ceramics.

The tensile strength is mainly due to metallic bonding; metallic bonds will allow atoms to shift elastically under tension, or, as stated previously, resist tensile forces without deforming permanently.

Tensile strength attributes to all factors involved: crystallinity, mineralogy, grain size, processing. Of these factors, the sake of demonstrative examples, metals will have improved tensile strength with a greater degree of crystallinity, reduced grain size, and a higher degree of purity.

10. High Reflectivity

Reflectivity describes the ability of a material to reflect light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is basically the same as luster, but over a wider frequency range (X-ray/UV to long-wave radio). Nonetheless, the mechanisms of reflectivity are the same as those given for luster.

11. Sonorousness

Sonorousness is a method of describing an object or material’s capacity to produce sound that resonates upon impact with another object and is characteristic of metals, primarily due to how vibrations travel through crystalline structures of the metal.

In addition to the propagated vibration, reflection from the sound waves further enhances the sound effects from the metal.

Overall, a sound-inducing method like impact of a mallet on the metallic object (or shaped object) will produce highly- elastic vibrations that will propagate through the metallic lattice structure and the sound will sound clear and ringing. The macroscopic behavior is oscillations of a shape that will generate sound waves in the air around it.

In most of our familiar uses of metals a practical application for sound propagation utilize the sonorousness of metals, most specifically to generate rich and resonant sounds in musical instruments and many times the sonorous metals of acoustical engineering to produce greater sound reflecting properties and architectural acoustics in structures and performance spaces.

12. High Melting and Boiling Points

The vast majority of metals have extremely high melting points (MP) and boiling points (BP). The most notable exceptions are lead, tin, gallium, and mercury.

In general, metallic bonding accounts for these high values, but there is also variation depending on the relative size of the atoms and how closely they can be packed.

As they have very high MPs, tungsten and molybdenum may conceivably be added as alloying elements to increase the MP of various materials where high temperature machinery is being used. Tantalum may also play a role, as it has a high BP which supports vacuum systems.

13. Corrosion Resistance

Corrosion resistance indicates the durability of a material under exposure to corrosion inducing conditions including humidity, chlorides, acids and alkalis. It ultimately protects a product’s structural integrity and aesthetics.

Corrosion can occur by corrosion via oxidation or other chemical forms of reactions which results in unsightly markings on the surface and can weaken the structure. Composition, treatments and environment all contribute to metallic corrosion resistance.

Stainless steel, nickel, chromium, zinc, aluminum and titanium are all metals that exhibit corrosion resistance because they create an impermeable and self-healing layer of oxide on their surface. There are many less expensive metals, such as steel, that perform well when coated or alloyed.

Steel can be alloyed with chromium to prevent oxidation, or coated in zinc. Both gold and silver exhibit high levels of corrosion resistance under typical conditions of exposure, however gold is virtually indestructible to most corrosive agents.

According to our Senior Solutions Engineer,

“The material we manufacture the most of, in both CNC and Sheet Metal methods, is Stainless Steel 304. SS304 carries an excellent benefit of suitability between corrosion resistance, strength, and cost, which makes it an excellent choice for use in a wide range of applications. Being an austenitic steel means good formability and weldability which makes it very easy to work with. It is readily available and compliant for food-grade applications, making it a very popular metal in the construction, food processing, and chemical equipment industries.”

14. Magnetic Properties

The magnetic properties of metals stem from the electron configuration and the way the atoms are arranged. There are three categories of metals based on their magnetic properties: ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and diamagnetic metals.

Ferromagnetic metals exhibit a strong magnetic response to an external magnetic field and these metals having undergone magnetization will continue to have their magnetic domains aligned with the external magnetic field (or declared magnetized).

Paramagnetic metals will have a weaker attractive magnetic field which will dissipate after the external magnetic source is removed. Diamagnetic metals are repelled from magnetic fields and exhibit no net magnetization.

All three of these properties are useful in inherent magnetic storage, electromagnets, magnetic shielding, magnetic braking, and useful for MRI machines.

15. Solid State at Room Temperature

Metals are usually solid at room temperature, as the metallic bond between the atoms is quite strong. The melting point will be influenced by the nature of the metallic bonding which comprises the structure or arrangement of the atoms, the strength of the bonding, and the single or multiple valence electrons involved, and the atomic size of the metal atoms involved.

What Is the Use of Metal?

Due to their many physical, mechanical and chemical characteristics, metals have a wide variety of uses. Metals are very well suited for loads associated with structural application, such as construction and transportation options, while being able to withstand heavy loads and remain stable under different and harsh loading conditions.

The electrical and thermal conductivities of metals necessitate that they are used in electrical wiring and circuitry, in electronics, and heating/cooling appliances to name a few.

The malleability and ductility of metals allows them to be easily shaped and fabricated. Some metals do provide excellent and very successful corrosion resistance requiring no preventative methods even in outdoor, marine, and chemically aggressive environments.

The potential to recycle metals also leads to reuse of metals, limiting the environmental impact of primary extraction and reduced waste at disposal sites.

Some metals are classed to be beautiful enough to even use in jewelry, or even as decorative architectural finishes. The high melting and boiling points of metals also ensure that they will retain some of their mechanical strength as a result of being subjected to high temperature applications.

What Are the Different Types of Metal?

Metals can be classified by their metallic and non-metallic properties and also by a position on the periodic table. Some examples of metals will putably describe what are described below.

1. Transition Metals

Transition metals are classified as the element occupying the d-block of the periodic table (groups 3-12) and are defined by the presence of partially filled d-orbitals which distinguish their chemical and physical properties.

Transition metals also have the ability to occur in multiple oxidation states, they may have color when in solution, are very dense, high tensile strength, high melting point, can be conductive of heat and electricity and are utilized as alloys, catalyst and magnets for multiple utilities.

Transition metals play many important function in biological system as they are cofactors of enzymes and mostly important in conjunction with oxidation/reduction reactions. Transition metals are valuable in nearly every sector of society.

2. Heavy Metals

Heavy metals can be characterized by their high atomic weight and density, which include lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), uranium (U), and nickel (Ni) , to name a few. Living cells tend to bioaccumulate these metals, indicating that heavy metals, are toxic to humans and the environment.

Heavy metals are toxic, but play critical roles in industry including manufacturing, electronics, and different pigments.

Strict legislation is driven to limit heavy metals release into the environment and the risk of human exposure to reasonable levels, thereby reducing overall ecosystem impacts and public health implications.

3. Alkaline Earth Metals

Alkaline earth metals are located on the periodic table in group 2. The alkaline earth metals are magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), strontium (Sr), and radium (Ra).

Alkaline earth metals, while less reactive than alkali metals, readily react with water and oxygen to form their +2 oxidation state ions. Like sodium, alkaline earth metals also conduct electricity.

Alkaline earth metals have higher melting and boiling points than alkali metals do. Alkaline earth metals react with oxygen to form their respective oxides as well as react with water to respectively form hydroxides, which can have alkaline or basic properties.

4. Precious Metals

Precious metals have been prized for their relative scarcity, their natural (uncompounded) occurrence in metallic form, their beauty, and their ease of manipulation, since antiquity.

For much of human history, precious metals, especially gold (Au), silver (Ag), and the platinum group metals listed below, often playing prominent roles in currency, jewelry, and decorative arts.

Notable things about gold are its reflectivity, ductility, and resistance to corrosion. These traits have endowed gold with a historic and prestigious role as a symbol of wealth.

Interest in (and use of) silver are driven by its luster and conductivity, and it plays an important role in currency, industry, and electronics.

The platinum group metals—accounting for valuable metals that are scarce and have unique properties—see important uses in catalysis, electrochemistry, and jewelry.

5. Ferrous Metals

Ferrous (an iron-based) metals, such as pure iron, steel, and cast iron alloys, possess characteristic strength, durability, and magnetic qualities.

Pure iron (Fe) is relatively soft, ductile, and therefore has niche utility in applications such as wire, magnets, and any guides in a magnetic field. Steel is an iron-carbon alloy, with manganese, chromium, and/or nickel frequently added as intentional additives.

Steel is a ferrous alloy when strength, hardness, and other properties are required. Cast iron usually has higher carbon content than steel, and thus is more brittle; but cast iron is perfect for an application like an engine block or cookware since brittle material can be offset by mass.

6. Lanthanides

The lanthanides, also termed rare earth elements, make up the f-block of the periodic table from lanthanum (La) to lutetium (Lu). These elements share similar chemical properties and electron configurations, with lustrous silvery appearances and high melting and boiling points.

Reactive in nature, lanthanides easily form compounds with oxygen, water, and acids, which gives them extensive industrial utility. They’re integral in catalyst production, magnets, lighting materials (phosphors), lasers, and batteries. Lanthanides also appear in glass, ceramics, medical imaging, medications, and cancer treatments.

Lanthanides’ versatility makes them indispensable across electronics, energy, healthcare, and environmental sectors. Despite their abundance in the Earth’s crust, their extraction and refinement can cause environmental problems like radioactive waste and chemical runoff.

7. Rare Earth Metals

The term “rare earth metals” is simply another name for the lanthanide series. Rare earths may be divided into light (lanthanum to samarium) and heavy (europium to lutetium) rare earths.

8. Noble Metals

Noble metals comprise metallic elements that do not corrode, oxidize, or chemically change under normal environmental conditions, and which are predominantly found in the transition metal section of the periodic table are referred to as noble metals e.g., gold, silver, platinum, palladium, etc.

Noble metals have certain key features including chemical stability with high melting points and boiling points and high electrical conductivity. Many noble metals have catalytic properties and some are biocompatible.

9. Actinides

The actinide group, located in the f-block beneath the lanthanide series of the periodic table, consists of the 15 elements from actinium (Ac) to lawrencium (Lr), including uranium and plutonium (Pu).

The actinides are characterized by their radioactivity; all actinides produce radiation spontaneously as they decay into more stable forms and can require careful handling and disposal to resist health and environmental risks. Those risks have been most evident in the context of mining.

As for other attributes, the chemical reactivity of actinides permits the production of a number of compounds including oxides and complexes.

Isotopes of actinides also have real-life applications such as nuclear fuel and smoke detectors. They are the radioactive sources of energy in nuclear reactors and weapons.

10. Base Metals

Earlier categorization frameworks contained specific common types of metals that were put under the category of base metals, generally in opposition to precious or noble metals. These metals are relatively abundant and have several industrial applications.

There is not a formal category of base metals within a chemistry context. The use of base metals is informal and used in different ways, generally as shorthand when in an industrial context.

Some industries will include iron as a base metal, while some would not. Some of the base metals typically included in the list of base metals are copper, aluminum, zinc, nickel, lead and tin.

Base metals are also important to construction, transportation, electronics and manufacturing. Base metals are considered to be very valuable as they are used to construct relatively inexpensive and available and versatile metal products.

11. Non-Ferrous Metals

Non-ferrous metals contain no iron as a primary element. While most all non-ferrous metals offer better corrosion resistance compared to ferrous metal, some non-ferrous metals are lower density and higher yield strength; suitable for use in aerospace and automotive applications.

Others provide high conductivity while copper and aluminum, for example, are the most important metals used in grid transmission wiring and electronics (or electrical) systems.

Non-ferrous metals are malleable, ductile, and easily recycled. These metals include copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, nickel, chromium, tin, and alloys of the above.

12. Light Metals

Light metals are defined as metals with a lower density than ferrous or copper-based metals/alloys; their density (and sub-sequent weight) is advantageous for several applications where weight is a constraint.

Light metals are also advantageous in that they are sustainable and have special properties of interest, which include strength, durability, light weight, further properties of light metals are: corrosion resistance, thermal and electrical conductivity, and recyclability.

The most common examples of light metals are aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and beryllium. They are important in the aerospace, automotive, electronics, and medical industries.

13. Post-Transition Metals

Post transition metals are a class of elements that are located in between transition metals and metalloids on the periodic table. They are more soft and ductile than transition metals, and tend to form covalent rather than metallic bonds (W.H. McMillan and D.F. Hayes, 2015).

This flexibility allows them to be shaped with relatively no resistance. Due to generally having lower melting points and boiling points than transition metals, they are therefore easily shaped.

Once again, most metals do not react as these do, and they therefore form a wide range of salts or other compound with non-metals. Thus their electrical and thermal conductivities will all vary widely due to these properties and atomic structures.

These post-transition metals (Aluminum [Al], Indium [In], Tin [Sn or Stannum], Lead [Pb or Plumbum], and Bismuth [Bi]) are important elements include in alloys, batteries, catalysts, and electronics.

14. Metalloids

Metalloids are a group of elements whose properties fall between those of metals and nonmetals. Starting with boron (B) and ending with polonium (Po), metalloids display some semiconductive properties, conducting electricity better than nonmetals but worse than true metals.

As a result, metalloids play an important role in semiconductors and electronics due to their distinctive behavior.

Metalloids are variable in their physical properties, however, they typically exhibit luster and brittleness.

Some properties behave more like metallic properties, while other properties behave more like nonmetallic properties, so metalloids are referenced in semiconductor manufacturing, glass making, and metallurgy.

Some metalloids, like polonium, are toxic due to the strong 𝞪-alpha radiation it emits, which has been used in high-profile assassinations.

Commonly referenced metalloids include boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, and antimony, all of which play key roles in electronics, materials science, and everyday products.

How To Choose Which Type of Metal To Use

To select the right metal, you must run through several critical steps:

1. Determine the clinical requirements for the application, including mechanical requirements, environmental requirements (e.g., corrosion resistance, etc.), and cost requirements.
2. Assess the required properties (e.g., strength, conduction, corrosion resistance, weight, etc.).
3. Identify candidate metals which can satisfy the required properties.
4. Consider metal availability and supply chain resiliency, which will satisfy your requirements for form, size and quantity.
5. Check compatibility with other materials and processes involved in the task.
6. Assess the environmental impact of each metal (e.g., recycling, toxicity, sustainability, etc.).
7. Pick the most appropriate metal as per your assessment.
8. Confirm your choice by means of testing or analysis that is commensurate with the task at hand.

What Type of Metal Can Be Used in 3D Printing?

Several metals are available for 3D printing processes, including:

1. Stainless steels, which demonstrate excellent mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and versatility.
2. Titanium is well-known for its high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility, which makes it perfectly suited for many of the aerospace, medical, and dental applications.
3. Aluminum and aluminum alloys, which are light metals but have a good strength-to-weight ratio, find good applications for the automotive, aerospace, and consumer electronics industries.
4. Nickel-based alloys such as Inconel® and Hastelloy® offer heat resistance, corrosion resistance, and strength that allow them to survive in the most extreme applications.
5. Copper and copper alloys are used in electrical and thermal conductive applications, such as those found in electronics, heat exchangers, and plumbing systems.
6. Tool steels are valued for their hardness, wear resistance, and toughness.
7. Precious metals are used in applications such as jewelry, luxury goods, and electronic applications. Malleable and ductile, some of these metals can be shaped into well-crafted forms and intricate custom designs.
8. Tungsten is widely known for its high melting point, density, and hardness for a variety of applications, including aerospace and defense.
9. Cobalt chromium alloys are high strength, wear-resistant, and biocompatible which makes them ideal for medical implants, dental restorations, and aerospace components.

What Type of Metal Can Be Used in Embossing?

Not all metals can be embossed. However, the following metals are all ductile enough to emboss: copper and its alloys (bronze, brass, beryllium copper, etc.), steel, tinplate, nickel-plated steel, silver, and gold.

Most importantly, these metals provide lots of choices in the embersing market and each offers interesting embossing possibilities. The best metal to choose will depend on the appearance you would prefer to achieve, what durability would be required, and the price you can afford.

What Type of Metal Can Be Used in Laser Cutting?

There are a number of metals that work well with laser cutting, so long as the laser is of sufficient power, and that it is the appropriate type of laser. Considered inexpensive and as readily available as most metals, mild steel is one of the most common metals to be cut (using a laser).

With laser cutting, steel will cut cleanly and quickly, with minimal burrs. Stainless steel is another common metal cut with a laser. It can be cut using a laser beam, and obtain smooth edges to the steel, precisely.

Aluminum is a popular metal to cut with a laser if the utmost portability, corrosion-resistance, and ease of cutting are valued; it has good conductive properties for thermal loss and eliminates the chances of distortion during cutting due to its extreme lightweight. Other metals which can also be cut with a laser are: galvanized steel, copper, brass, and titanium.

What Type of Metal Can Be Used in Laser Engraving?

Laser engraving of metals is related to laser cutting metals but not necessarily the same. While many metals approved for laser cutting can also be laser engraved, there are several distinctions between cutting and engraving that affect the selection of metal.

Laser cutting generally uses thicker metals and produces a more complete cut with little distortion.

Laser engraving uses less power than laser cutting to create marks or designs on the metal surface.

Lots of metals are able to be laser-cut and laser-engraved. Some metals, however, that are reflective (gold, silver, aluminum) and present challenges in engraving, will reflect the resulting beam. When the laser beam hits a reflective surface and reflects, it does not consistently engrave the surface.

There are metals that are not easy to laser-cut (harder steels or stainless steel) but can be laser-engraved. Those metals would have their own requirements such as the engraving may require specific settings or a coating applied to the surface before engraving.

What Is the Advantage of Using Metal?

Metals are naturally robust, durable, and versatile materials that serve a wide range of applications. When used properly, they provide an appropriate level of structural integrity, wear resistance, and the ability to resist harsh environments. Metals also provide a broad range of characteristics from conductivity and fire resistance to aesthetics.

Metals are also readily recyclable, and support sustainability and impact on the environment. In sum, metal products tend to be affordable, sustainable and trustworthy.

What Is the Disadvantage of Using Metal?

For heavy metals (density), they can be impractical in weight-sensitive situations. Some metals can corrode, meaning they will require a protective coating or some level of maintenance to mitigate the oxidation rate.

Many metals are also, especially many of the alloys with special properties, quite costly. Metal can sometimes be fairly low-working with, which may involve processes and the use of equipment that are meant for the metal parts.

Are Metals Generally Malleable and Ductile?

Malleability and ductility are characteristics of metals that allow them to be shaped and extruded reasonably easily without breaking. Malleability and ductility also permit metals to generally resist mechanical loads and provide structural integrity in engineering and construction applications.

While most metals exhibit the properties of ductility and malleability, generally, some metals will exhibit ductile and malleable properties very differently based on the composition and type of metal.