Is there a term for

[Shenfeng]

a part of ob maybe a piece of machinery that is deliberately designed to be weaker and therefore to break down first before an further harm can be done.

In German we call that a "Sollbruchstelle". 'Predetermined breaking point' is a translation that comes close but I'm actually looking for something a little more colloquial.

Does anything come to mind?

Thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

How about a "fail-safe" point?

 

[Tdol]

We have circuit breaker.