Current Articles | Archives Failure CriteriaStaff posted on October 23, 2006 | Failure Criteria Maximum shear stress criterion (Tresca's Criterion): This criterion is often used to predect the yielding of ductile material Maximum distorsion energy (Von Mises Criterion): This criterion is used to predict the yielding of ductile material. It can also give a reasonable estimation of fatigue failure. For plane stresses, Maximum stress criterion (Rankine Criterion): This criterion is used to predict the yielding of crittle material. It states that failure occurs when the maximum principal stress reaches the yield stress of the material. compression tension Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.