1. Strength and toughness are two distinct properties in engineering materials, with strength representing resistance to non-recoverable deformation and toughness being a material's resistance to fracture.
2. Toughness is a compromise between strength and deformability, with hard materials tending to be brittle and lower strength materials being tougher.
3. Toughness can be generated without ductility through intrinsic damage processes that operate ahead of the crack tip to promote its propagation, and extrinsic crack-tip-shielding mechanisms that act mostly behind the crack tip to inhibit this.
The article provides an overview of the conflicts between strength and toughness in engineering materials, discussing how these two properties are mutually exclusive yet can be balanced through compromises such as plasticity or inelastic deformation. The article is well written and provides a comprehensive overview of the topic, including examples of different mechanisms for generating toughness without ductility.
The article does not appear to have any major biases or one-sided reporting; it presents both sides of the argument fairly and objectively, providing evidence for each point made. It also does not appear to contain any unsupported claims or missing points of consideration; all claims are backed up by evidence from relevant sources, while all potential counterarguments are explored in detail. There is no promotional content or partiality present in the article either; it is purely informational in nature.
The article does note possible risks associated with balancing strength and toughness, such as too much deformability leading to loss of toughness, but could have gone into more detail on this point. Additionally, while it does provide evidence for each claim made, some of this evidence could have been expanded upon further for greater clarity.