What is the term for the maximum load a material can handle before failure?

The term for the maximum load a material can handle before failure is known as Ultimate Strength. This characteristic of a material reflects its overall capacity to withstand applied stress before it begins to deform plastically and eventually break. It encompasses the material's performance under various types of loading conditions, including tension, compression, and shear.

Ultimate Strength is typically determined through testing where a specimen is subjected to increasing loads until failure occurs. This value is crucial in engineering and design as it helps engineers ensure that structures and components can endure the forces they will encounter in their intended environment without risking structural integrity.

In contrast, the other terms represent specific types of strength related to how materials behave under particular types of loading. Flexural Strength refers specifically to a material’s ability to resist deformation under bending loads, Tensile Strength pertains to how well a material can withstand tension before failing, and Shear Strength relates to the material's capacity to resist sliding failures along a plane. Each of these properties is important, but none represent the comprehensive measure of maximum load bearing capacity synonymous with Ultimate Strength.