Modern experiment and theory in the eld of residual stress detection by the photoacoustic method are summarized and analyzed. A multimode approach based on the simultaneous application of several photothermal and photoacoustic methods is proposed for the study of thermal and thermoelastic e¬ects in solids with residual stress. Some experimental results obtained within the framework of this approach for Vickers indentation zones in ceramics are presented. The e¬ect of annealing on the photoacoustic, piezoelectric signal for ceramics and the in®uence of the given external loading on the behavior of the photoacoustic signal near the radial crack tips is investigated. It is experimentally shown that both compressive and shear stresses contribute to the photoacoustic signal near the radial crack tips. The model of the photoacoustic, thermoelastic e¬ect in solids with residual stress is proposed. It is based on the modi ed Murnaghan model of non-linear elastic bodies, which takes into account a possible dependence of the thermoelastic constant on stress. This model is further developed to explain the photoacoustic signal behavior near the radial crack tips. It is demonstrated that this model of the photoacoustic e¬ect agrees qualitatively with the available experimental data.