What is the difference between the stress concentration factor and stress intensity factor

The stress concentration factor is a number that raises stress locally due to factors
such as holes and change in cross section. In the latter case, the sharper the radius at the
cross section change, the higher the stress concentration. Typically, these factors range
from 1 to 3 and sometimes more.
Stress intensity factor is a bit different; it is an inherent property of the material that is
tested and defined for cracks or flaws. For cracks and flaws, the radius is very small,
approaching zero for sharp corners, and stress concentration factors become very very
high, approaching infinity. In this case we use the measured stress intensity factor and
equations of fracture mechanics to calculate allowable stresses. It is often used for fatigue
calculations for metals and for strength determination for brittle materials like glasses and
ceramics.

Stress Intensity Factor and Crack Tip Stresses

Crack tips produce a singularity. The stress fields near a crack tip of an
isotropic linear elastic material can be expressed as a product of and a
function of with a scaling factor K:

where the superscripts and subscripts I, II, and III denote the three different
modes that different loadings may be applied to a crack. The detailed breakdown
of stresses and displacements for each mode are summarized in this page. The
factor K is called the Stress Intensity Factor.
 Stress Intensity Factor in Practice

Engineers are interested in the maximum stress near the crack tip and whether it
exceeds the fracture toughness. Thus, the stress intensity factor K is commonly
expressed in terms of the applied stresses at and .

For example, for a through crack in an infinite plate under uniform tension , the
stress intensity factor is

where a is one half of the width of the through crack. The dimension of K is

In the last few decades, many closed-form solutions of the stress intensity factor
K for simple configurations were derived. Some of the common ones are listed in
the following three categories: classic, specimen, and structure.

Stress Intensity Factor and Fracture Toughness

Based on the linear theory the stresses at the crack tip are infinity but in reality
there is always a plastic zone at the crack tip that limits the stresses to finite
values. It is very difficult to model and calculate the actual stresses in the plastic
zone and compare them to the maximum allowable stresses of the material to
determine whether a crak is going to grow or not.

An engineering approach is to perform a series of experiments and reach at a

critical stress intensity factor Kc for each material, called the fracture toughness
of the material. One can then determine the crack stability by comparing K and Kc
directly.

Kc's for a number of common engineering materials are listed in this page.

Relationship between and K

Some literature may prefer using strain energy release rate over stress
intensity factor K. These two factors are however directly related by the following
formulas:

The dimension of is