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A sailor checks the outside diameter of a shear pin in the machinery repair shop aboard US aircraft
carrier John C. Stennis
A shear pin is a mechanical detail designed to allow a specific outcome to occur once a
predetermined force is applied. It can either function as a safeguard designed to break to protect
other parts, or as a conditional operator that will not allow a mechanical device to operate until
the correct force is applied.
Contents
Material[edit]
A shear pin could potentially be made from any material although metal is the most common.
When making a metal object for a mechanical application, an alloy and tempering is usually
selected to make the construction resistant to damage. This can for example be achieved by
giving the material a high degree of elasticity so that, like a spring, the metal returns to its original
shape after being deformed by an external force. A shear pin however is often tempered to make
the metal brittle, so that it breaks or shatters rather than bends when the required force is
applied.
The material of a shear pin is selected and treated so that it is relatively resistant to fatigue
(material). That is, when subjected to small forces, each one insufficient to break the pin, the pin
does not retain damage. If material fatigue were to weaken a shear pin, the pin could potentially
be broken by a force smaller than the original threshold force causing the mechanism to operate
unintentionally, or a safety shear pin to break during normal operation of the machinery it
protects.
Construction[edit]
The pin itself may be as simple as a metal rod inserted into a channel drilled through two moving
parts, locking them in place as long as the pin is intact.
It may also be a plain metal rod inserted through a hub and axle; the diameter of the rod, alloy
and tempering of the metal, are all carefully chosen to allow the pin to shear only when the
predetermined threshold force or shockis reached.
A split pin (cotter pin in American usage) can also be used as a shear pin.