Shape factor

Shape factor may refer to one of number of values in physics, engineering, image analysis, or statistics. Typically, a shape factor refers to a value that is affected by an object's shape but is independent of its dimensions.

In physics:

• Shape factor, or shaping factor, a performance measure for filters such as band-pass filters
• Shape factor of crystallites, a term in the Scherrer equation used in X-ray diffraction
• The view factor in the field of radiative heat transfer

In engineering:

• Shape factor (boundary layer flow)
• Structural indices derived from falling weight deflectometer data

In image analysis:

• Shape factor (image analysis and microscopy) including:
  • The compactness measure of a shape

In statistics:

• The shape parameter, sometimes referred to as the shape factor, of some probability distributions