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What's the piece that's supposed to fail first (and prevent damage) called? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 year ago by darthskull@lemmy.ca to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.ca

19 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The little metal pegs on a snow blower or a fuse in a circuit are examples I can think of.

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[–] W1Z_4RD@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

'Failsafe' the word you are looking for?

[–] dmention7@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

"Ackshyually" incoming...

Failsafe has a specific meaning, describing a system that enters an inherently safe state in the case of a failure.

For example, semi truck parking brakes are actually disengaged by applying air pressure to the system; without air pressure the brakes are engaged automatically by heavy springs. Therefore most failures in the braking system would just result in being unable to disengage the brakes, as opposed to a truck rolling away.

So, while a sacrificial component like OP is describing could be designed as part of a failsafe, generally it's a different design principle at play.