Critical resolved shear stress

Critical resolved shear stress is the component of shear stress, resolved in the direction of slip, necessary to initiate slip in a grain. It is a constant for a given crystal.

Tests have been conducted on single crystals of metals to measure the shear stress required to initiate plastic deformation, or cause atomic planes to slip. Since this is a threshold value, it is referred to as critical; and since it is a component of the applied force or stress, it is said to be resolved; that is, the critical resolved shear stress.