AbstractLoad‐free notch surfaces of bodies made of a linear‐elastic, homogeneous, isotropic material are optimized within given variation domains by means of an interation procedure so that the occurring maximum tangéntial stress is reduced to a minimum. The hypothesis of a constant tangential stress distribution for obtaining minimal notch stresses proposed by R. V. Baud has been confirmed by means of the Fade‐away Law of the notch stress theory. The finite element method is applied for calculating the displacement and stress field of the styructure. An increment procedure is used for determing the displacement field after every iteration step, which permits the calculation of the displacement quantities with sufficient accuracy in a single step. Numerical solutions and their comparison with analytical solutions and stress results obtained with the aid of photo‐elasticity confirm the usefulness of this procedure. The known optimization methods1,2differ from those used in the prese