The mechanical design of engineering structures usually involves an analysis of the
stress and displacement fields in conjunction with a postulate predicting the event of
failure itself. Sophisticated methods for determining stress distributions in loaded
structures are available today. Detailed theoretical analyses based on simplifying
assumptions regarding material behavior and structural geometry are undertaken to
obtain an accurate knowledge of the stress state. For complicated structure or loading
situations, experimental or numerical methods are preferable. Having performed the
stress analysis, we select a suitable failure criterion for an assessment of the strength
and integrity of the structural component.