The maximum stress that a material is capable of sustaining in shear. In practice, shear strength is considered to be the maximum average stress computed by dividing the ultimate load in the plane of shear by the original area subject to shear. Shear strength is usually determined by inserting a cylindrical specimen through round holes in three hardened steel blocks, the centre of which is pulled (or pushed) between the other two so as to shear the specimen on two planes. The maximum load divided by the combined cross-sectional area of the two planes is the shear strength.