Ductile fracture of a stressed material, which exhibits a large plastic deformation is commonly caused by the formation and coalescence of voids in the necked region
Brittle fracture is caused by the propagation of pre-existing cracks in the material and involves minimum plastic deformation
Fatigue fracture of a material is always brittle in nature and takes place due to the existence of line imperfections
Brittle materials are generally tested in tension