In materials science and engineering the von Mises yield criterion can be also formulated in terms of the von Mises stress or equivalent tensile stress, , a scalar stress value that can be computed from the Cauchy stress tensor. In this case, a material is said to start yielding when its von Mises stress reaches a critical value known as the yield strength, . The von Mises stress is used to predict yielding of materials under any loading condition from results of simple uniaxial tensile tests. The von Mises stress satisfies the property that two stress states with equal distortion energy have equal von Mises stress.