High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The stress intensity factor, , is used in fracture mechanics to predict the stress state ("stress intensity") near the tip of a crack caused by a remote load or residual stresses. It is a theoretical construct usually applied to a homogeneous, linear elastic material and is useful for providing a failure criterion for brittle materials, and is a critical technique in the discipline of damage tolerance. The concept can also be applied to materials that exhibit small-scale yielding at a crack tip.