Stress Singularity

Stress singularity refers to a numerical phenomenon where the stress at a point on a geometry does not converge to a specific value. The stress is unbounded and theoretically infinite.

In a Finite Element Model stress singularities often occur at at a mesh node where a point load is applied, or a constraint is defined. The stresses observed at stress singularities are ignored for design and analysis purposes.

There are no stress singularities in real structures and they should not be confused with stress concentrations, stress intensity factors and stress intensification factors, all of which represent physical phenomena.

This page is part of The Encyclopedia of Stresses in Solids