AbstractThe elastic stress field around a crack tip is fully defined through multiparameter equations such as the general relations of Westergaard proposed by Sanford or the most recent of Atluri and Kobayashi. Using the relations of Atluri and Kobayashi, a code was implemented to evaluate the characteristic parameters of the stress field around a crack tip by photoelastic analysis. The possibility to change the number of parameters makes it possible to adapt the study to different cases, increasing the extension of the analyzed area in order to have a correct modeling of the photoelastic fringes. The performed experimental tests allow emphasizing the importance of using multiparameter equations in the study of the stress field around the crack tip.