The groove, not the ring, usually fails first

A circlip’s rated thrust load is set by the shaft or bore groove wall shearing out, almost never by the ring itself breaking.

Why it works

The ring only has to resist expanding or contracting; the groove wall has to resist being sheared clean off by the ring’s edge. Undersized or soft-material grooves are the real weak point in most retaining-ring failures.

Do it exactly

Estimate with the rule, then check it against the calculator that models it properly.

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More in Mechanical

• The bolt-torque shortcutTightening torque ≈ 0.2 × preload × bolt diameter (dry steel).
• Torque mostly fights frictionRoughly 90% of tightening torque is lost to friction; only ~10% actually stretches the bolt.
• Deflection limits: span/250Keep beam deflection under span/250 generally, span/360 where people will notice a bouncy floor.
• Depth beats width, cubedDouble a beam’s depth and its deflection drops 8-fold. Double its width and it only halves.

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