Sacrificial part

A sacrificial part is a part of a machine or product that is intentionally engineered to fail under excess mechanical stress, electrical stress

Electric current

Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...

, or other unexpected and dangerous situations. The sacrificial part is engineered to fail first, and thus protect other parts of the system.

Examples of sacrificial part include:

• Electrical fuses
  Fuse (electrical)
  In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse is a type of low resistance resistor that acts as a sacrificial device to provide overcurrent protection, of either the load or source circuit...
  
  
• Over-pressure burst disks
• Mechanical shear pins
  Shear pin
  A shear pin is a safety device designed to shear in the case of a mechanical overload, preventing other, more-expensive parts from being damaged...