The formation of blocks and residual stresses in shaped sapphire crystals grown from the melt by the Stepanov method (EFG) has been studied. The probability of block formation is higher for the growth along the c axis compared to that grown in the a-axis direction. The distribution of residual stress in sapphire crystals of tubular, rectangular and round cross section was measured by the conoscopy method. It was found that the magnitude of the residual stress increases from the center to the periphery of the crystal and reaches up to about 20 MPa. Residual stress tensor components for solid round rod and tubular single crystals were determined by numerical integration. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.