Marine Dictionary & Glossary of Boating Terms

Breaking Strain

Similar Terms: BS,Breaking Load,BL

The load at or around which a major failure or breakage could occur to some part of the products structure. No product should be used at more than half of the Breaking Strain so as to provide a minimum safety factor of 2. Therefore as a guide, a safe working load (SWL) can be 25 to 50% of the breaking strain, but will depend on the usage and the standard required.