Most of the methods for determining residual stresses inside metallic solids are destructive, which is undesirable. The ultrasonic technique provides a useful nondestructive tool in the evaluation of stresses. This work presents the application of shear and longitudinal waves in the determination of stress state in a steel bar. A bar stressed by a hydraulic system is used to simulate the effect of the tensile stress. The stresses are recorded and compared with the real value calculated using the force and the bar cross-sectional area. The comparison between the theoretical and experimental results shows that it is possible to correlate tensile stresses and velocity with both methods, although the longitudinal critically refracted $LCR$ waves have greater sensitivity to the stress.

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