Despite vast differences in their other properties, the responses of Ti3SiC2 and ice to stress are quite similar in that they are quite strain-rate sensitive; if loaded rapidly, both are brittle, but if loaded slowly they are quite plastic. This stems from the fact that both are plastically very anisotropic; deformation occurs overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, by slip along basal planes. In both cases, stress concentrations and the rate at which they are relaxed dictate the nature of the mechanical response. In the brittle regime, microcracks and their linkage play a dominant role in both cases.
