Material Science::: Why metals can go through plastic deformation while ceramics can not? Solution Metals creep, or deform in response to stress, because they exhibit malleability and ductility. The malleability and ductility of metals is due to the fact that metallic bonding is uniform in all directions throughout the solid. One plane of atoms in a metal can slide past another without encountering great resistance and without breaking bonds. Metals are therefore immune to brittle failure within a certain limit of deformation. metals expand when exposed to heat. ceramics have very little expansion when heated to the same degree.