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9
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1


!"#$%#$&
Tolerance ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Basic terms .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Component part properties .............................................................................................................. 3
The dimension tolerance zone ......................................................................................................... 4
The reference system ...................................................................................................................... 5
Dimensional chains .............................................................................................................................. 6
Close dimension and closed dimension tolerance ............................................................................... 7
Arithmetical calculation of tolerance chains ......................................................................................... 7
Establishing counting direction for single dimensions ...................................................................... 8
Creation of the dimension plan ........................................................................................................ 9
Dimension Table .............................................................................................................................. 9
Calculation closing dimension N0 .................................................................................................. 10
Calculation high close dimension Po ............................................................................................. 10
Calculation of the minimum close dimension Pu ............................................................................ 10
Calculation of the total close dimension M0 ................................................................................... 10
Check of the calculation dimensions of the dimension chain ......................................................... 11
The statistical toleration ..................................................................................................................... 12
The normal distribution with Gauss ................................................................................................ 14
The limit of scattering (Ti) ............................................................................................................... 15
Statistical toleration - Example ....................................................................................................... 16
Tolerance symbols in a draft .............................................................................................................. 19
Technical Description of the two piece lift gate design .......................................................................... 23
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 23
Draft and measurements ................................................................................................................... 23
Coordinate system ......................................................................................................................... 25
Gap size ......................................................................................................................................... 26
Hole and Slot ..................................................................................................................................... 27
Gap length support ............................................................................................................................ 29
Further surface modification ........................................................................................................... 32
Fixture ................................................................................................................................................ 33
Definition of terms .......................................................................................................................... 33
Hole/shaft fits ................................................................................................................................. 34
Locator pins .................................................................................................................................... 35
Surface datums .............................................................................................................................. 36
Standards for GD&T .......................................................................................................................... 37
Datum definition ............................................................................................................................. 39

2

Datum locations ............................................................................................................................. 40
Tolerance Analysis Programs ............................................................................................................... 41
MITCalc ............................................................................................................................................. 41
Definition of the variables ............................................................................................................... 41
Results for MITCalc ........................................................................................................................ 43
VIS VSA ............................................................................................................................................. 44
Process document ......................................................................................................................... 44
Assembly operation ........................................................................................................................ 46
Measurement points ....................................................................................................................... 47
Results for Vis VSA ........................................................................................................................ 48
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 50
References ............................................................................................................................................ 51


3

Tolerance

Basic terms

An explanation of the tolerance analysis is made easier knowing the basic terms.
Component part properties

Nominal dimension: The nominal dimension is the dimension or measure that the
designer determines in the technical drawing during the development of a component
as a theoretical aim dimension.
Actual dimension: The actual dimension is, as the name suggests, the actual
measured dimension of the produced component part. It should be as close as
possible to the theoretical optimal nominal dimension. As a perfect conformance
between the nominal and actual dimension, in reality, is only reached per chance, a
deviation between the two must be allowed due to reasons of production feasibility.
Tolerance: The tolerance is the allowed deviation of the dimension/measure of the
finished component from the theoretical design component. Each component
differentiates itself through this deviation possibility from other components during the
same production process.

In the ISO 14 660 the correlation of the above introduced are described as a real result: ideal
component part, produced component part, technically measured component part and
comparison of the geometrical ideal.





Draft
Produced
Part
Detected
Part
Ideal
Geometry
Legend A- Nominal Geometry, B- Symmetry Line, C- Target Geometry, D- Detected
Geometry, E- Derived Symmetry Line, F- Ideal Geometry, G- Derived Ideal Symmetry Line
4

Geometrical properties of a component part are describes as follows:

Dimensions
Form-, direction-, location- and running tolerances.
References

If these properties do not comply after the production within the allowed tolerances there are
consequences, as a rule, not only for following production steps (for example the joining to
assemblies), but also lead to reworking measures or customer complaints in the worst case.
The dimension tolerance zone

After the production of the component part the actual dimension is determined by a two-point
measurement and is compared to the nominal dimension. Thereby the actual dimension
must be within the tolerance zone which is determined by the designer or the DIN ISO. Using
an example the interpretation of the tolerance zone is shown.










The component part shown above represents a bolt that was assigned the dimensions 20
+0,3/-0,1 by the designer. From the dimension it is possible to derive the limits of size that
are listed in a table.


5

N0 Nominal Dimension 20,0
Go Maximum dimension 20,3
Gu Minimum dimension 19,9
es Upper deviation +0,3
ei Lower deviation -0,1
T Tolerance (es - ei) (Go - Gu) +0,4

The reference system

With the aid of the reference system the exact position of the component in the environment
is fixed. There are 6 variances, divided in 3 rotary and 3 translatory inertia.


Special elements are used to restrict the possible rotation and translation of the component
until its exact position has been fixed in order to define the position (in the environment) of
the component in reference table above. The 3-2-1 principle, as it is often called, has proven
to be reliable. At the beginning 3 surfaces are defined on the component that hinders the
component on the translation in Z+ and Z- and the rotation around the X- and Y-axis.



6

The shown surfaces A1-A3 above form the first reference plane (Datum A). To restrict the
component further in its movement in the environment an additional level is defined. The
translation in X and in Y is restricted with the help of a hole. Thereby the hole as Date B is
defined.


The long hole is used, as the last element, in order to hinder the rotation around the Z-axis.
Thereby the component is completely positioned in the environment. This component is
pictured entirely in the environment above with the reference system with Datum A, B and C



Dimensional chains

Dimensional chains develop through the connection of multiple components and then when
these are joined together. Two types of dimensional chains distinguish themselves as
follows:

Through the joining of two or more components a dimensional dependence develops
through the geometry of the single components.
7

In the single component itself a dimensional chain can develop when, for example,
two dimensions are connected to create a third dimension. Or, when a form tolerance
is joined with a positional tolerance.

In order to avoid errors at the assembly single dimensions and dimensional chains (that are
created through multiple joined components) must be adapted to one another.

Close dimension and closed dimension tolerance

The linear dimension chain is made up of single dimensions (Mi) that span along an
assembly in one direction. The dimension that the single dimensions encase is the close
dimension (M0) and is thereby the start and the end of a dimension chain. In general, the
close dimension is the sum of all tolerances that are the outcome of the single dimension
tolerances. One of two ways can be selected to calculate the close dimension tolerance.
Depending on the calculation method this tolerance is called:

Arithmetic close tolerance TA
Statistical close tolerance TS

Planes and spatial dimension chains have a much larger impact in modern design as it did
some years ago. However, the calculation of this dimension chain is more difficult because it
is has to be done with non-linear equations. In addition one of two approaches have to be
decided upon for dealing with tolerance chains.

The close dimension tolerance is calculated, for the tolerance analysis, with the help of the
single component tolerances. This serves, for example, the investigation of the functionality
of an assembly in regard to its dimension chain.

The tolerance synthesis describes the opposite order. To assure the functionality of a
dimension chain within an assembly the close dimension tolerance is provided and the
resulting single dimension tolerance calculated.

Arithmetical calculation of tolerance chains

The usual arithmetic tolerance chain calculation is also called Min-Max- Principle. Thereby
one assumes that the difference from Maximum-dimension and minimal-dimension forms the
close dimension tolerance. Attention must be paid that when doing the calculation of the
maximum dimension the maximum dimension of the single component (and not always the
minimum dimension) for calculating the minimal dimension may be used. A direction is
defined in which the dimensions appear and, depending on whether it points in a positive or
negative direction, either the minimum dimension or the maximum dimension is selected for
the calculation. Dimensions in positive direction of counting are added and dimensions in
negative counting direction are subtracted. Using this type of tolerance calculation all future
assemblies and construction investigations are conducted. The following practical example is
to better present the approach of an arithmetical tolerance chain calculation.

8





Example: Spur-wheel drive in a pre-joint gearing



As seen above, the close dimension (M0) forms an important function dimension within the
assembly. The play between the ball bearing and the retaining ring is looked for with M0. If
the minimum closing dimension falls below the value 0 the retaining ring can no longer be
mounted in the designated nut. A given machining sequence is used to calculate the close
dimension tolerance.

Establishing counting direction for single dimensions

To determine the counting direction one uses two fixed rules.

Dimensions that an enlargement of the dimension deviation causes an increase
of the close dimension are assumed to be positive. The vectors of this dimension
appear in the positive counting direction in the dimension plan.

Dimensions, that an increase of the dimension deviation causes a reduction of
the close dimension are assumed to be negative. The vectors of the dimension
appear in the negative counting direction in the dimension plan.

The dimension plan is created in the next point with the help of both of these rules.



9

Creation of the dimension plan

The dimension plan serves the presentation of all dimensions that the calculations of the
close dimension are relevant for. The dimensions are inserted, as the case may be, whether
they influence the close dimension in the positive or negative, either in the counting direction
or conversely. The dimension plan appears, for the selected example, as below:



Dimension Table
The table is a suitable tool for clarification and for an orderly listing of all relevant single
dimensions. The dimension is inserted respectively with the prefix corresponding to the
effective direction. In the following table the values were inserted for the presented example.


Dimension

closing
dimension

description

dimension
Ni [mm]

max. dim.
Goi [mm]

min. dim
Gui [mm]

tolerance
Ti [mm]

- M1 N1 ball
bearing
12.0 12.05 11.95 0.1

- M2 N2 distance
ring
35.3 35.5 35.1 0.4
- M3 N3 cog width 30 30.3 29.8 0.5
+ M3p N3p Parallelism
tolerance
0.0 0.2 0.0 0.2
+ M4 N4 shoulder 77.5 77.75 77.25 0.5
+ M5 N5 groove
width
3.0 3.15 2.95 0.2
- M6 N6 locking
ring
2.0 2.15 1.95 0.2

10


Calculation closing dimension N0

The formula for the calculation of the nominal close dimension is:

!
!
! !
!!
! !
!!



For this example the formula is:

!
!
= (!
!!
+ !
!
+ !
!
) - (!
!
+ !
!
+ !
!
+ !
!
) =
= 0mm + 77,5mm + 3mm - 12mm - 35,3mm - 30mm - 2mm = 1,2mm

Calculation high close dimension Po

The dimension is calculated from the difference of the sum of the largest dimensions (Goi+)
of the positive dimensions and the sum of the small dimensions (Gui-) of the negative
dimensions.
!
!
! !
!"!
! !
!"!



The formula for the example is:
!
!
= (!
!!!
+!
!!
+ !
!!
) - (!
!!
+ !
!!
+ !
!!
+ !
!!
)
= 0,2mm + 77,75mm + 3,15mm - 11,95mm - 35,1mm - 29,8mm - 1,95mm = 2,3 mm


Calculation of the minimum close dimension Pu

This dimension is calculated from the difference of the sum of the small dimensions (of the
positive dimensions) and the sum of the largest dimensions (of the negative dimensions).
!
!
! !
!"!
! !
!"!



The formula for the example is:
PU = (Gu3p +Gu4 + Gu5) (Go1 + Go2 + Go3 + Go6)

!
!
= (!
!!!
+!
!!
+ !
!!
) - (!
!!
+ !
!!
+ !
!!
+ !
!!
)
= 0mm + 77,25mm + 2,95mm 12,05mm 35,5mm - 30,3mm 2,15mm = 0,2 mm

Calculation of the total close dimension M0

11

An additional intermediate step is necessary in order to calculate a standard close dimension
with the corresponding dimensions. First of all, the upper and lower dimensions must be
determined.

!" ! !
!!
! !
!
! !
!


Upper deviation


With the values from the example:
!
!!
! !
!
! !
!
= 2,3mm 1,2mm = 1,1mm

!" ! !
!!
! !
!
! !
!


Lower deviation TA2

With the values from the example:
!
!!
! !
!
! !
!
= 0,2mm 1,2mm = -1mm


Using the values from the intermediate calculations for the following:

!
!
! !
!!
!!
!
!!


In the example:
!
!
! !
!!
!!
!
!!
! !!!
!!!!
!!!!

The close dimension for the presented arithmetic dimension is !!!
!!!!
!!!!
mm.

Check of the calculation dimensions of the dimension chain


To ensure the correctness of the calculated dimensions, a check calculation after every
tolerance chain calculation should be carried out.

The rule that the sum of the tolerances of the close dimension Ti must equal the total
tolerance TA is applied.

From
!
!
! !
!
! !
!


And

!
!
! !
!


Follows:
!
!
! !
!
! !
!

12



The example dimension chain is therefore:

!
!
! !
!
! !
!



2,3mm 0,2mm = 2,1mm 0,1mm + 0,4mm + 0,5mm + 0,2mm + 0,5mm +
0,2mm + 0,2mm = 2,1mm

The checks show that !
!
! !
!
! !
!
applies and thereby it is proven that the close
dimension !
!
was correctly calculated.


The statistical toleration

In contrast to the arithmetical tolerance chain calculation (that is calculated with the minimal
respectively maximum tolerance values), the probability calculation is used for the
statistical toleration.

Components are produced in a high number of pieces in large-volume production and mass
customization. The component part and the working machine form a system that is exposed
to influencing variables. Physical properties, technological influences for example geometry
of the prepared component part for the work piece stand eye-to-eye with the machining
properties such as operating temperature, operating time and cutting quality.

These influencing variables affect the final geometry of the component part that leaves the
machine. Without their appearing to be a particular connection, the components always
deviate differently from the ideal design component on the drawing. In-depth tests and
investigations in the past have proven that the deviations lead to random close dimensions.
The maximum-close dimension tolerance (TA max) and the minimal-close dimension
tolerance (TA min) happens in the final assembly only in very exceptional cases. It can be
observed that in practice, the random designated close dimension tolerance (TW) smaller
than the arithmetical calculated close dimension tolerance (TA). As tight tolerances on the
components cause higher costs, an increase of the tolerances thus means also a reduction
of the production costs.


4.5.1 Foundation of the statistics
The mathematical foundation for statistical toleration can be found in the DIN 7186. The
basis of which are:

The mean value theorem
The deviation transmission law
The relation between standard deviation and tolerance
The central limiting value theorem of the probability calculation

13

In regular intervals samples are taken and measured in the production in order to control the
quality of the produced components. A certain measured value x (for example the diameter
of the drill holes) is measured and documented on these working parts. This is repeated
again and again with the samples to conclusively form a picture of the complete production.
The distribution of the measured values within one series is defined with the help of the
mean value theorem. Because the normal Gaussian distribution is found in large series and
in the mass production there is, for the selected measured value x the following mean
value !
!
:

!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!!!


The standard deviation describes the spread of the measured values as related to the size of
the sample and can, therefore, be seen as the random parameter range. The spread is
described as:

!
!
!
!
! ! !
!!
!
! !
!
!
!
!
!!!




If the formulas of mean value and standard deviation are used for a dimensional chain that is
the result of working pieces that are connected, the formula for the nominal close dimension
is:

!
!"#
! !
!
!
!!!


And the total spread:

!
!"#
! !
!
!
!
!!!



The deviation transmission law according to Gauss says that in regard to the dimension
chain, are not tolerances but rather the variations ! are added.

From this it follows that the close dimension tolerance of the dimension chain (Ts) can be
seen as a multiple of the total spread !
!"#
:

!
!
! !
!
! !! ! !
!"#


Deviation transmission law according to Gauss

14

Therefore the following two statements can be made with the help of the central limiting
value theorem:

If more than two spreads ! from different distributions meet, the total spread is, as a
rule, normally distributed.
If there is a controlled final assembly, all distribution law surroundings can be
determined through random sampling evaluation.

The normal distribution with Gauss

In order to be able to present the margin of tolerance with regard to a random sampling, this
margin of tolerance is divided into equal intervals. These dimensional intervals are called
classes. Then, a sufficient number of samples is taken. This is necessary for the
characterization of the processes. The measuring is carried out from these samples that in
turn are entered in the dimensional intervals. This process is illustrated in the following
example.

Example: Production of a nut


The nut is to be produced with a width of 47,7 mm and a tolerance of 0,1mm. Accordingly,
the tolerance field amounts to 0.2mm. The produced nut can therefore be a maximum
47.8mm and a minimum 47.6mm wide. A sample lot of 50 components is taken. The nut
width is measured for all components and documented by means of a table. A digital caliper
with a degree of accuracy of 1/100 mm is used to do the measuring. The measuring of the
samples produced the following measurement values:

No. Value No. Value No. Value No. Value No. Value
1 47,74 11 47,69 21 47,7 31 47,69 41 47,74
2 47,67 12 47,72 22 47,68 32 47,71 42 47,73
3 47,77 13 47,68 23 47,71 33 47,77 43 47,75
4 47,75 14 47,65 24 47,73 34 49,82 44 47,71
5 47,66 15 47,69 25 47,76 35 47,71 45 47,69
6 47,71 16 47,73 26 47,71 36 47,74 46 50,81
7 47,73 17 47,62 27 47,68 37 47,66 47 47,67
8 47,72 18 47,7 28 47,73 38 47,68 48 47,7
9 47,7 19 47,73 29 47,65 39 47,70 49 47,68
10 47,65 20 47,71 30 47,75 40 47,67 50 47,73
15


Measurement values from 50 components

Two of the 50 samples had to be discarded as their values deviated so greatly form the
normal values that a measuring error probably had occurred. The average value and the
standard deviation can be calculated with the remaining 48 components.

The average is calculated according to formula as follows:

!
!
!
!
!"
!
!
! !"!!" !!
!"
!!!



The standard deviation is:

!
!
!
!
!" ! !
!!
!
! !"!!"!
!
!
!!!
! !!!"# !!


One can clearly see the normal Gauss distribution recorded in a diagram.




The example of the nut production above shows that merely one measurement was selected
and statistically analyzed. When applying the normal distribution (Gauss distribution curve) to
the tolerance chain of an assembly, further aspects of the production (as the case may be,
mass production) have to be considered.

The limit of scattering (Ti)

The toleration width of a measurement (that has already been explained in the arithmetic
toleration) is defined in the statistical toleration as the margin. This in turn is indicated as a
16

multiplication of the standard deviation. This indication is also known as the limit of
scattering.

For a process that is to be considered mastered, an erratic value (scattering value) of
! ! ! ! ! is provided. This means the limit of scattering is a distance to the mean value of
three times the standard deviation. A minimum of 99,73% of all dimensions are assured to be
within the given tolerance using this limit of scattering. In course of the Total Quality
Management efforts, a higher limit of ! ! ! ! ! from its suppliers, in this case means that
99.994% of the dimensions are within the tolerance range.

An overview of the dispersion or scattering is shown in the following Illustration.



Statistical toleration - Example
Example: Spur-wheel drive in a pre-joint gearing
17




In order to be able to statistically tolerate this assembly, assumptions must be defined.

Because we are dealing with a vehicle gear box in this exemplary assembly - it is assumed
that it is to be produced in series. This means that all measured dimensions can be assumed
as normally distributed. Furthermore, we assume that each tolerance field of the single
dimensions does not exceed the area ! ! ! ! !.

Taking these factors under consideration the following values can be calculated and
summarized in a table.

Dimension

closing
dimension

description

dimension
Ni [mm]

max.
dim.
Goi
[mm]

min.
dim
Gui
[mm]

tolerance
Ti [mm]

Variation
! [mm]
- M1 N1 ball
bearing
12.0 12.05 11.95 0.1

0.0167
- M2 N2 distance
ring
35.3 35.5 35.1 0.4 0.0667
- M3 N3 cog width 30 30.3 29.8 0.5 0.0833
+ M3p N3p Parallelism
tolerance
0.0 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0333
+ M4 N4 shoulder 77.5 77.75 77.25 0.5 0.0833
+ M5 N5 groove
width
3.0 3.15 2.95 0.2 0.0333
- M6 N6 locking
ring
2.0 2.15 1.95 0.2 0.0333


The standard deviation of the tolerance fields were calculated in compliance with the
restricted area ! ! ! ! ! of the tolerance field with the formula:

!
!
!
!
!
!



The form and positional tolerance M3p does not fall under the normal distribution, but rather
is normal amount distributed. This means that the tolerance describes a one-sided cut
normal distribution.

Out of this we have an altered formula for the calculation of the standard deviation and the
mean values for this dimension.

!
!!
!
!
!!
!


18

Standard deviation for the form and position tolerance M3p

!
!!
!
!
!!
!!


Mean value for the form and position tolerance M3p

For the distribution of the statistically calculated closing dimension we get the formula:

!
!"#
! !
!
!





For the described example:

!!!"#$
!
! !!!""#
!
! !!!"##
!
! !!!""#
!
! !!!"##
!
! !!!"""
!
! !!!"""
!
! !!!"#$

For the described example this would be !
!
for ! !:

!
!
! ! ! !
!"#
! ! ! !!!"#$ ! !!!"


The overall mean value of the assembly can be calculated with the help of the following
formula:

!
!"#
! !
!


Consequently, the following applies for the selected example:

!
!"#
! !!" ! !"!! ! !"!! ! !!!! ! !!!" ! !!!" ! !!!

And therefore the statistical calculated closing dimension:

!
!!"#"
! !
!"#
!
!
!
!
! !!! ! !!!"

Again, for comparison, the arithmetical calculated closing dimension:

!
!!"#$!
! !
!!
!!
!
!!
! !!!
!!!!
!!!!


In order to compare the arithmetical and the statistical calculated closing dimension directly a
reduction factor (r) is created.

! !
!
!
!
!
!
!!!"
!!!
! !!!"
19


This reduction factor means that the statistical closing dimension uses only 45% of the
arithmetically calculated tolerance field. Should, however, the arithmetical closing dimension
be kept, it is possible, conversely, that statistic tolerance fields of the single dimension of the
coverage factor (e) be increased.

! !
!
!
!
!
!!!"
! !!!!


Thus, it would be possible, when you only calculate arithmetically, to magnify the tolerance
fields of the single dimensions by a factor of 2.22.


Tolerance symbols in a draft

According to the standards of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T), the
definitions of the symbols are described as following:


All Around Symbol - indicating that a tolerance applies to surfaces all
around the part.


Angularity - is the condition of a surface, axis, or centerplane, which is at a
specified angle from a datum plane or axis.

Arc Length - indicating that a dimension is an arc length measured on a curved
outline. The symbol is placed above the dimension.

Basic Dimension - used to describe the exact size, profile, orientation or
location of a feature. A basic dimension is always associated with a feature control
frame or datum target. (Theoretically exact dimension in ISO)

Between - to indicate that a profile tolerance applies to several contiguous
features, letters may designate where the profile tolerance begins and ends. These
letters are referenced using the between symbol (since 1994) or the word between on
drawings made to earlier versions of the Standard.

Concentricity - describes a condition in which two or more features , in any
combination, have a common axis.

20

Conical Taper - is used to indicate taper for conical tapers. This symbol is
always shown with the vertical leg to the left.

Controlled Radius - creates a tolerance zone defined by two arcs (the minimum
and maximum radii) that are tangent to the adjacent surfaces. Where a controlled
radius is specified, the part contour within the crescent-shaped tolerance zone must
be a fair curve without flats or reversals. Additionally, radii taken at all points on the
part contour shall neither be smaller than the specified minimum limit nor larger than
the maximum limit.

Counterbore/Spotface - is used to indicate a counterbore or a spotface. The
symbol precedes the dimension of the counterbore or spotface, with no space.

Countersink - is used to indicate a countersink. The symbol precedes the
dimensions of the countersink with no space.

Cylindricity - describes a condition of a surface of revolution in which all
points of a surface are equidistant from a common axis.

Datum Feature - is the actual component feature used to establish a
datum.

Datum Target - is a specified point, line, or area on a part that is
used to establish the Datum Reference Plane for manufacturing and inspection
operations.

Depth/Deep - is used to indicate that a dimension applies to the depth of a
feature. This symbol precedes the depth value with no space in between.

Diameter - indicates a circular feature when used on the field of a drawing or
indicates that the tolerance is diametrical when used in a feature control frame.

Dimension Origin - Signifies that the dimension originates from the plane
established by the shorter surface and dimensional limits apply to the other surface.

Feature Control Frame - is a rectangular box containing
the geometric characteristics symbol, and the form, runout or location tolerance. If
necessary, datum references and modifiers applicable to the feature or the datums
are also contained in the box.

21

Flatness - is the condition of a surface having all elements in one plane.

Free State Variations - is a term used to describe distortion of a part after
removal of forces applied during manufacture.

Least Material Condition (LMC) - implies that condition of a part feature of size
wherein it contains the least (minimum) amount of material, examples, largest hole
size and smallest shaft size. It is opposite to maximum material condition.

Maximum Material Condition (MMC)- is that condition of a part feature wherein
it contains the maximum amount of material within the stated limits of size. That is:
minimum hole size and maximum shaft size.

Number of Places - the X is used along with a value to indicate the number of times
a dimension or feature is repeated on the drawing.

Parallelism - is the condition of a surface, line, or axis, which is equidistant at all
points from a datum plane or axis.

Perpendicularity - is the condition of a surface, axis, or line, which is 90 deg.
From a datum plane or a datum axis.

Position Tolerance - defines a zone within which the axis or center plane of a
feature is permitted to vary from true (theoretically exact) position.

Profile of a Line - is the condition permitting a uniform amount of profile
variation, ether unilaterally or bilaterally, along a line element of a feature.

Profile of a Surface - is the condition permitting a uniform amount of profile
variation, ether unilaterally or bilaterally, on a surface.

Projected Tolerance Zone - applies to a hole in which a pin, stud, screw, etc.,
is to be inserted. It controls the perpendicularity of the hole to the extent of the
projection from the hole and as it relates to the mating part clearance. The projected
tolerance zone extends above the surface of the part to the functional length of the
pin, stud, and screw relative to its assembly with the mating part.

Radius - creates a zone defined by two arcs (the minimum and maximum radii).
The part surface must lie within this zone.

22

Reference Dimension - a dimension usually without tolerance, used for
information purposes only. It does not govern production or inspection operations.
(Auxiliary dimension in ISO)
Regardless Of Feature Size (RFS) - the condition where the tolerance of form,
runout or location must be met irrespective of where the feature lies within its size
tolerance.

Roundness - describes the condition on a surface of revolution (cylinder, cone,
sphere) where all points of the surface intersected by any plane.

Runout - is the composite deviation from the desired form of a part surface of
revolution through on full rotation (360 deg) of the part on a datum axis.

Slope - is used to indicate slope for flat tapers. This symbol is always shown
with the vertical leg to the left.

Spherical Diameter - shall precede the tolerance value where the specified
tolerance value represents spherical zone. Also, a positional tolerance may be used
to control the location of a spherical feature relative to other features of a part. The
symbol for spherical diameter precedes the size dimension of the feature and the
positional tolerance value, to indicate a spherical tolerance zone.

Spherical Radius - precedes the value of a dimension or tolerance.

Square - is used to indicate that a single dimension applies to a square shape.
The symbol precedes the dimension with no space between.

Statistical Tolerance - is the assigning of tolerances to related components of
an assembly on the basis of sound statistics (such as the assembly tolerance is equal
to the square root of the sum of the squares of the individual tolerances). By applying
statistical tolerancing, tolerances of individual components may be increased or
clearances between mating parts may be reduced. The increased tolerance or
improved fit may reduce manufacturing cost or improve the product's performance,
but shall only be employed where the appropriate statistical process control will be
used. Therefore, consideration should be given to specifying the required Cp and /or
Cpk or other process performance indices.

Straightness - a condition where an element of a surface or an axis is a
straight line.

Symmetry - is a condition in which a feature (or features) is symmetrically
disposed about the center plane of a datum feature.
23


Tangent Plane - indicating a tangent plane is shown. The symbol is placed in
the feature control frame following the stated tolerance.

Target Point - indicates where the datum target point is dimensionally located on
the direct view of the surface.

Total Runout - s the simultaneous composite control of all elements of a
surface at all circular and profile measuring positions as the part is rotated through
360.


Technical Description of the two piece lift gate design

Introduction

The 2-Piece lift gate design provides manufacturing cost reduction meanwhile increasing the
manufacturing time. According to the new innovations in the automobile section, not only the
body chassis has to be modified for the new needs of the market but also rear view must be
competitive with the other manufacturers. Ford C344, named as the new C-MAX, consist
of 1 piece lift gate exterior panel with a plastic piece which is mounted for the door handle.
The design lacks the independence of the capability of the self-manufacture. Handle is being
supported to Ford and is mounted in the factory itself. However, the 2-piece (can also be
considered 3-piece if the inner panel is also being counted) design provides the handle to be
directly implemented to the exterior panel, that eliminates the need of another dependency
and reduce the manufacturing cost by far.
In tolerance analysis, the references and the measurements are touchstones for the accurate
results. The trim process had to be made where the old design had the plastic handle.
However as it will be discussed, the results are not as it is expected. For the high-end
products, a new design had to be made. Unfortunately, due to the time and immerse amount
of costs, available C344mock-up had to be trimmed and analyzed.
Draft and measurements

Measurements will be made by two separate drafts which were already available. The
tolerances were directly merged from Ford standards.



24

Draft of the upper part:


Draft of the lower part:


The CAD data was also provided. With that, measurement tool was used which is
implemented to the Catia V5 CAD program. The distances have the error at the third
deviation after zero. However, it was already enough.
25

The design rule in Ford is to create a new reference system regardless of the default
reference system of Catia. The idea is to move any piece which were designed by
different departments and assemble them with ease. For the lift gate, which were provided to
us was designed between 5000m to 5200m. Benefits of the usage come when all of the
other pieces are loaded in the program, so that they do not interact with each other. So the
programmer has no trouble to assemble the pieces.
Coordinate system


Coordinate System; reference to the rest of the programs and calculations.




Y-axis is the width, X-axis is the depth, and Z-axis is the length of the part. In the program
ViS VSA (Going to be explained in further section), Axis corresponds to the direction vector:
X-direction corresponds to I-vector
Z-direction corresponds to J-vector
Y-direction corresponds to K-vector

The locations for holes, slots and surface datum have very important role in the tolerance
analysis as described above. The table had to be made to keep the track of the coordinates
of the important locations. According to the reference system, the coordinates of the features
in the design are:

26

X Y Z
Upper Lift Gate panel
(UB)
Hole 4913,394 529 1363,009
Slot 4913,394 -529 1363,009
Datum A1 4750,059 -455 1611,082
A2 4750,059 455 1611,082
A3 5145,172 -278 1156,259
A4 5145,172 278 1156,259
Lower Lift Gate Panel
(LB)
Hole 5117,55 -216 983,303
Slot 5117,55 209 983,303
Datum A1 5104,292 -478 1000,491
A2 5104,292 478 1000,491
A3 5128,576 -380 801,35
A4 5128,576 380 801,35

Gap size


Maximum and minimum gap sizes.

According to the Company Lohmann, the minimum and maximum gap sizes have been
measured to be 0.1 mm to 2 mm. The After the trim, the nominal gap of 1 mm has been
given in between the two parts.
Ford has a very strict policy of not using any adhesive material on the exterior. It is
assumed that the maximum gap which is allowed on the exterior surface, which has no
hinges or swing, is 0.5 mm. This gap size might be sufficient for the adhesive band to take in
place; meanwhile the gap is hidden behind the handle point as seen on the illustration above.
Therefore, the gap of 1 mm would not be visible thus it is acceptable to have a 1mm gap on
27

an exterior surface. However, this information is only assumed and the information was
gathered from an expert Ford engineers.

Hole and Slot

The manufactured part has to be fixed on a fixture in order to test the tolerance fits, or to give
the piece mobility while the production and/or the assembly is taking place. Hole and slot
design is the most convenient element to fix a part and provide mobility. As described earlier,
all of the parts which are fixed had to be fixed with eliminating the movement of the part.
Providing a hole to a part eliminates the movement of the part on the X and Y axis also
eliminates the rotation on X and Y axis. Slots (also called long holes) are provided to
eliminate the rotation on the Z axis. Finally, a surface datum eliminates the movement in the
Z axis.

Hole definition with R 8mm and dispersion of save dispersion radius of R 14mm.
Hole and slot has many benefits to the engineer, but not to the designer. A typical hole has a
diameter of !16mm and a depression which provides the hole to be flat on the surface.
Considering modern vehicles have almost no flat surfaces, a depression must be along to
the interior to the chassis or to the exterior of the chassis. According to the expert Ford
design engineers, depression and hole should maintain 5mm distance. This makes the jut to
occupy an extra 5mm to the extension of the current radius, in result of !26mm depression.
Also, the sharp edges have to be filleted in safety reasons and the fillet diameter should not
be smaller than 2mm, which makes the depression to have another 2mm option at the
edges. Therefore, the total diameter for the depression must be !30 mm if a !16 mm hole is
being used.
Slots are extensions of holes. It is possible to use two holes instead of a hole/slot design or
even three-slot design is available. It is up to the designer to choose between those
28

variations. A slot is considered an ellipse that has the same height and slightly wider than a
hole. Ford regulations expect to have 22mm width if a !16 mm hole is being used.
Furthermore, the width of the slot does no effect on the tolerance analysis; therewith it is just
a design regulation which defines the other depressions size.

The slot dimensions are defined from the hole size. Therefore, the slot which is used has 22mm width and
16mm height, and a depression length of 6mm.
With the help of the figure above, the ellipse measurement details
would be:
! ! !!!!, ! ! !!!
! ! !
!
! !
!
! !!!!!!
Focus (!) of the ellipse

Therewith, the depression which is necessary for the slot would
be; !
!
! ! ! !!! ! !!! !"##$% ! !"!! and !
!
! ! ! !!! ! !!! !"##$% ! !"!!; in
which the depression would be !
!
! !"#!!, !
!
! !"#!.
Thus, the appearance and the preservability of the part have a bad remark. Normally, on the
standard lift gate design, the hole/slot features are disguised with the window panel which is
highlighted with a dark surface which makes it non-transparent. But, there is no feature on
the lower panel which is able to disguise the hole/slot mechanism.
Therefore, the design which is created has this system under the license plate slot. This is
not the optimal solution, and the regulation at Ford requires having the length between
hole and the slot minimum of 2/3 of the total length. In this design case, the length between
hole and slot barely makes 1/3 of the total length of the part. Therefore, this directly affects
the tolerance test results. A solution for this problem will be discussed at the summary.
Standard ellipse definition.
29

Another fixture element to get rid of the hole/slot design would be tabs. Many of the closures
that the vehicles have do not have any hole/slot system and they are fixed to the fixture by
tabs. One of the benefits which tabs have that designer does not have to worry about
elements to hide the depressions. Meanwhile, tab feature comes with also disadvantages. A
provided tab cannot be singular on one side. That results all of the forces which will act the
tab inhomogeneous. Therefore, each side either needs more than one tab or a movable tab.
Movable tabs result to have the most accurate tolerance analysis after hole/slot design.
However, this kind of tab design is very hard to implement to the modern vehicles which
have almost none perpendicular edges. Therefore, tabs have to be redesigned in a way that
the edges on the part have to interact without interfere.
In a complicated design like this, it is decided to make hole/slot design at the lower body too.
Two different designs were made to satisfy the best results. One of this has the depression
along to the interior of the body, the other one along the exterior.
A hole/slot design will always be easier for the engineer to analyze the parts, but also harder
for the designers to maintain the appearance. But, a tab/movable-tab design will have worse
results comparing to the hole/slot design but it is easier for the designers in many cases
which were described above. It is up to the company policy which to use and what part is
being used.
It is very important to mention that there is no EU/US regulation on the lift gate, which makes
the design independent. Preferably, tab/movable tab design could be used, but for this
project a hole/slot is designed.
Gap length support

As described earlier, the minimum gap size of the adhesive band is 0,1mm and maximum of
2mm. Expected gap size from Ford is 1mm. This brings a problem where the adhesive
band is not homogenous on the surface which is given to it (Check design modification for
the adhesive band from: Konzept zur Entwicklung einer mehrteiligen, geklebten
Heckklappe von Barbara Knops).
Surface which is going to be used for adhesive band.
30

The surface which is reserved for the adhesive band is actually the surface which is trimmed
from the original draft of the C344. The actual flat surface is located just between left and
right rear laps. The distance is approximately 880mm. The width of the lift gate is 1200mm
and that makes the flat surface which is required sufficient. Rest of the trimmed surface has
either bad angles or bad depth. It is nearly impossible to apply an adhesive band in that area.
But if necessary, even it is assumed that it is not, the surface at the very edge of the part,
where the rear lamps below edge have 70mm each flat surface which is good for adhesive
band application. For this second and third application of the band will cost extra
manufacturing time and cost. Thus, makes it unnecessary application surfaces.
Meanwhile, after the application of the adhesive band it is not clear that the gap will maintain
it is current condition while application or after being used. It is not acceptable to have some
of the assembled parts to have a gap size of 0,1mm and some of them having somewhere
around 2mm. So that is essential to have a block which is located between the two parts or a
design element, which controls the gap length. As illustrated above, the gap must maintain
its condition of 1 mm in every case. Thereby, a design modification was made at the previous
design.

Modification is colored with green.
The gap support was designed only on the surface which is described above. Making further
development is essential; however reducing the width is also an option. The engineer in the
FEM section should give the final remark.
Inevitably, some of the features will be limited for the adhesive band. The support will be
occupying 0,5mm of the depth of the surface with leaves adhesive band only 0,7mm. This
will also result in decrease of the tensile force of the band, thus making the lift gate more
vulnerable to external forces. Solution would be to increase the depth of the surface which
was provided more, but it is not clear that it will affect the final assembly.
The gap length stabilizer is designed to not get affected by the shear forces so the depth of
the touching surface has to be maximized. Using lower depth would result of instability of the
gap which will cause two parts to be able to rotate at Y-axis.
31


Sketch of the gap stabilizer.
Another problem would be caused by the touching surface of the support and the upper part.
The touching surface will be likely to have corrosion in between. A seal should be laid
between to minimize the risk of this to happen.
One of the few advantages of the support is that the adhesive band will not be exposed of
any shear force. So, the engineer who is responsible for the FEM tests will only deal with the
tensile forces. To make a short proposal for the problem would make few short gap supports
between two parts on the defined surface and screw two parts with the screw-hut as many
places as necessary.

Figure 1 Gap support stabilization suggestion.






1
m
m

32

Further surface modification

Through the need of the gap length support, a high amount of the surface had to be modified
in order to maintain enough width for the adhesive band. With the upcoming tests, the force
and the strength of the adhesive band should be enough. But, in order to increase the
strength of the band, one must either increase the adhesive band properties or the surface
area. This part of the project was dealing with the area increase.
As it is described, the width of the surface is 880mm with 12,5mm thickness. This results
11cm2 total-area which can be used for both gap support and the band. The gap support is
5mm thick, thus making it 40% of the total surface area. This leaves the band of
approximately 7,5cm2 useable area.

Orange line is the trim of two parts. The yellow crosses are the weld points. Red marked weld points are
important. Purple marked locations are the hole/slot location.
From the illustration above, one can see the weld locations of the outer part to the inner part.
These locations are assumed to be reused in the 2-piece lift gate design. In order to increase
the area, surface definitions could be reorganized. From the outer part to the inner part,
contact distance of those two parts is more than 20mm through between the parts. This
provides an extra 7,5mm depth, also gaining the lost surface, because of the gap support,
and increase the total usable area to 14,1cm2. That area is larger than the previous design
alternative.
The main issue here would be the weld locations. One of the reasons would if the increasing
surface be affected by the weld points. As seen above, weld location 58605-05-21 and
58007-01-T-21 are rather close to the trim line. However, this trim is perpendicular to the
outer surface, making the weld locations unimportant.

33

Hole and slot determination is also affected from the weld points. The third red marked weld
point (58100-01-T-21) is considered to be mirrored on the other side of the part as well. The
mirror would be done in exactly on the middle. Therefore, the location of the hole and slot
could not be closer each other. This makes the positioning of the new hole and slot
exceptionally hard.

Fixture

In early times where the parts are manually tested for the tolerance clearance, a fixture had
to be manufactured that had to fit the parts almost perfectly to get the optimum results.
Fixture consist the opposite variants of the features of the parts. A hole had to correspond to
a pin perfectly. This is also true for the slot, since the width of the slot was considered to be
unimportant. But the tolerance fields have to be considered as hole shaft tolerance rules.
Definition of terms





Maximum Material Condition (MMC) - is the condition where a feature of a finished
part contains the maximum amount of material. That is, the largest shaft or smallest
hole.

Least Material Condition (LMC) - is the condition where a feature of a finished part
contains the least amount of material. That is, the smallest shaft or the largest hole.

Nominal Size - approximate size used for the purpose of identification such as stock
material.

Basic Size - is the theoretical exact size from which limits of size are determined by
the application of allowances and tolerances.

Tolerance - the total amount by which a given dimension may vary or the difference
between the limits.

34

Limits - the extreme maximum and minimum sizes specified by a toleranced
dimension.

Allowance - an allowance is the intentional difference between the maximum material
limits (minimum clearance or maximum interference) of mating parts. Refer to the
example above:

!!"
!"#$
! !!"
!!!"#
! !""#$%&'(
!!"
!"#$
! !!!" !
!!"
!!!"#
! !!!"# !
!""#$%&'( ! !!!!"


Hole/shaft fits

Clearance fit - a clearance fit results in limits of size that assure clearance between
assembled mating parts.

!"#
!"#$
! !"#
!!!"#
! !"#$%$&'#
!!"
!"#$
! !!!"# !
!!"
!!!"#
! !!!"# !
!""#$%&'( ! !!!!"


Interference fit (also referred to as Force fit or Shrink fit) - interference fit has limits of size
that always result in interference between mating parts. For example, a hole and shaft, the
shaft will always be larger than the hole, to give an interference of metal that will result in
either a force or press fit. The effect would be an almost permanent assembly for two
assembled parts.







!"#
!!!"#
! !!!"#$ !
!"#
!"#$
! !!!"#$ !
!"#! !"#$%&$%$"'$ ! !!!!!"
(Least amount of Interference is)

!!"
!!!"#
! !!!"#$ !
!!"
!"#$
! !!!"## !
!"#! !"#$%&$%$"'$ ! !!!!"#
(Greatest amount of Interference)
35



Transition fit - a transition fit might be either a clearance or interference fit. That is, a shaft
may be either larger or smaller than the hole in a mating part.






!"#
!!"#
! !!!"#$ !
!"#
!!!"#
! !!!"#$ !
!"#$%$&' !"#$%$&'# ! !!!!!"

!!"
!!!"#
! !!!"#$ !
!!"
!"#$
! !!!"## !
!"#$%&'" !""#$%&'( !!"#$%&$%$"'$! ! !!!!!"



Basic Hole System - the basic hole system is used to apply tolerances to holes and shafts
assemblies. The minimum hole is assigned the basic diameter (basic size) from which the
tolerance and allowance are applied. This system is widely used in industry due to standard
reamers being used to produce holes, and standard size plugs used to check hole sizes
accurately

Basic Shaft System - the basic shaft system can be used for shafts that are produced in
standard sizes. When applying this system, the largest shaft is assigned the basic size
diameter from which the allowance for the mating part is assigned. Then, tolerances are
applied on both sides and away from the assigned allowance. One situation for using the
basic shaft system is when a purchased motor, with an attached shaft, from which a mating
hole must be calculated.


Locator pins

A hole/shaft definition is directly implemented to the hole/pin
feature for the part-fixture fits. Therefore the tolerances have
to be defined in a way that it will always have a clearance.
Ford requirements of the hole tolerances to be !!"
!
!!!!
and
slot tolerance to be !"
!
!!!!
, which both pins must maintain the
Typical fixture with 3 pins
36

tolerance of !!"
!!!!
!!
. This will provide almost perfect clearance. Width of the slot has also a
tolerance of !!
!
!!!!
but as explained before it is not mandatory to use this tolerance at all.
There will be 2 pins for each part available, one for hole and the other for slots. The complete
fixture in this project will have 4 pins. Not only the size is important but also the lengths of the
pins are important. In a part which is ready to manufacture will have a depth of minimum
2mm. By default Ford is using pins which are 5mm long. This is dependent on the part and
in our case 5 would be enough.
Surface datums

As described above holes and slots restrict the movement except the movement in the Z
axis. Therefore surface has to be pushed in the defined directions to completely stabilize the
part. Hereby, a instead a random point on the surface, one or few predefined locations on the
surface will be adjusted for the tolerance analysis. As it will be described later, these points
will be also referred as the reference datums and the quantity and the location of these
surface datums must be defined by the experts.
To get the maximum accurate results, a tri-pot is being virtualized and implemented for the
part surface datum locations. Two on the left and right corner and one on the south end of
the part will be enough to get the optimum results.
Increasing the datum quantity, will also increase the chance of the part to be folded on a side
or even converge to the middle. Therefore, another pack of datums can be defined if the
engineer sees it necessary.


Datums are defined as points in Catia V5.
According to the experts in Ford, the metal sheet at the lift gate is thin enough to bend;
therefore the datums should be more than three. For the best results, new set of datums
should be just the mirrored variants of the pre-datums. This way, left and right corners will
have 4 datums and two datums will be on the middle lined one north and one south.
37

This is the situation where it will be discussed again while the development is taking place in
the company. For example, standard C344 lift gate has 8 datums with 2 sets of 4 each. The
provided datum locations were implemented to our test draft and used directly with the
proper coordinates.
This also has a drawback where the datums are too strong, the movability of the part
reduces and this causes the tolerance analysis to result lower than it is expected in reality.
Thereby, the best locations would be:

Further datum suggestion.

Datums on the lower part with 2 sets of 3 points
As illustrated above, the red marked datums are the logical datum locations and the blue
marked datums are fail-safe datums which at the moment could only be thought that it might
be needed.
Standards for GD&T

As in many of the manufacturers, the tolerances which Ford will be using are predefined
and the regulations for that are very strict. Ford is using globally GD&T (Geometric
Dimensioning and Tolerances) standards.
The tolerances which are predefined call be summed with:






38

All visible surfaces will have:






1 This defines that it is a surface tolerance. Further tolerance alternatives were discussed
at Tolerance symbols sections.
2 If it is not directly specified 2,0 is referred to DIM 1,0mm. There are some exceptions
if it is specified, for instance in a hole/pin feature, the tolerance of hole will not be below
0mm.
3 This is the reference datums where the tolerances are referenced to those locations. In a
computer aided manufacturing methods, it is essential to define those datums for the
accuracy or even functionality for the manufacturing process. In this case, Datum A is
referred to the surface tolerances which are defined by 3 or more points on the surface.
These points do not have to be directly projected to the exterior body. It can also project the
interior of the sheet metal, both of these works as long as the engineer had already defined
either exterior or interior.
B and C datums are usually defined by hole/slot feature or tabs on the different edges of the
part. Every datum will be compensating one or more transition or rotation axis. At the end, all
of these datums will be result of restriction of the part movement and then it could only be
analyzed for the fits, clearance and tolerances.
4 Maximum material condition is also described in the hole/shaft fits section. Datum B and
Datum C are often defined as hole/slot feature. MMC of the holes are defined with these
marks.
All mating surfaces will have:



1 This defines that it is a line tolerance. Further tolerance alternatives were discussed at
Tolerance symbols sections.
39

2 If it is not directly specified 0,5 is referred to DIM 0,25mm. There are some exceptions
if it is specified, for instance in a hole/pin feature, the tolerance of hole will not be below
0mm.
3 If it is not directly specified 1,0 is referred to DIM 0,5mm. This is the tolerance which is
the most important since our two parts will be mated together with these tolerances. The line
tolerance won`t be needed since in the designs which is made, a surface was made for the
mating.

This section was discussed by experts and the tolerances could be fixed later on with more
in-depth research and development. Even though the Ford standard tolerancing will be
used, new proposition for the new tolerances would be:



Necessary tolerance definition changes for furthermore designs
In the figure above, the mating surface with is starting with the letter a to letter b has a
mating surface tolerance of DIM 0,4mm. It is not necessary to have D datums, however if
it is decided to use them the tolerance would be DIM 0,5mm. Rest of the surface tolerance
would be considered as visible surface and tolerances are standards.
In this proposition, tab/moveable tab fixture was used. The red marked section describes that
the datum C will be movable on the Z-Axis and restricted on the rest transition and rotation
axis.
Datum definition

The datums which are defined and showed earlier have to be marked with their own symbol
in the draft. A/D-datum and B-datum are defined as tabs and C-datum is defined to be a
movable tab. The illustration above with the datums can be example for the datum symbol
list.
Ford Company has all of these standard symbols predefined. This section is based on
ASME Y14.5M-1994. Symbols unique to ANSI Y14.5M-1982 are also described for those
who are contractually obligated to comply with the older standard.
40

Datum Feature Symbol - The symbol shown in ANSI Y14.5M-1982
and earlier standards is a rectangle with two short dashes. One dash is
placed on each side of the letter used to identify the datum feature.
Depending on the requirement, this symbol may be attached to an
extension line, a dimension line, a leader, a feature control frame, or placed
adjacent to a dimension value.






Target Point Symbol A datum target point is shown by drawing an
X at the location of the point. This same symbol is also used to
indicate the end view of a datum target line.


The datum feature, datum, and datum target are the important geometric dimensioning and
Tolerancing (GD&T) concept for creating and manufacturing a model. The datum is an
imaginary but theoretically perfect surface, line, or points. A datum feature, on the other
hand, is the physical representation of datum. Datum targets are specified regions of the
datum feature used for locating the part in a fixture.
Datum locations

The location for the datums, individually, has to be defined. The coordinate system which
was described in Draft and measurement section was used. The location table give would be
also used in the program ViS VSA.
A-Datum coordinates were given in Coordinate system table, with this only the proposition
datums, in this case B and C datums will be given:
X Y Z
B1 5117,094 -403,403 1109
B2 5117,094 -403,403 1109
C1 5010,001 629,411 0-900
C2 5010,001 -629,411 0-900

C-Datums are moveable datums therefore the coordinates can be varied from 0 to 900mm.



41

Tolerance Analysis Programs

MITCalc

MITCalc is a set of engineering, industrial, and technical calculations for your day-to-day
routines. It will reliably, precisely, and most of all quickly guide you through the design of
components, the solution of a technical problem, or a calculation of an engineering point
without any significant need for expert knowledge. There is no experience needed to use the
program. It has a simple user interface with easy and fast calculation results.
The program uses MS Excel (preferably Office 10) and calculates the tolerances with Visual
Basic programming language. The program is not a must, however with the given data, the
results are easier to calculate.
There are few versions which are implemented to the program. Tolerancing and Tolerances
section was used in the calculations of the project. The program can calculate linear(1D)
dimensional chains such as holes and can also calculate 2-D and 3-D dimensional chains.
The calculations of our project, because the angles are assumed to be perpendicular,
dimensions can be considered linear. The program solves the following problems in 1-D
chains:
Tolerance analysis, synthesis and optimization of a dimensional chain using the
arithmetic "WC" (Worst case) method, possibly the statistical "RSS" (Root Sum
Squares) method.
Analysis of a dimensional chain deformed as a result of temperature change.
Extended statistical analysis of dimensional chain using the "6 Sigma" method.
Tolerance analysis of a dimensional chain during selective assembly including
optimization of the number of assembled products.

Definition of the variables

The tolerance fields were described to be a linear chain. Lift gate itself will be 975mm long
with the standard surface tolerance of DIM 1,0mm. Upper part and lower part will have
mating tolerances of DIM 0,5mm and with an assumption the Adhesive Band will be 0,1-
2mm long. To analyze the gap in between the mating surfaces 1mm gap size was assumed.
To meet the requirement gap size tolerance was given !
!!!!
!!
!! , that makes minimum and
maximum size respectively 0,1mm 2mm.Liftgate has to be fixed and rest of the parts
should be analyzed, therefore Fixed was marked.

42


The program calculates the nominal close dimension and the spread (sigma). It also
optimizes the necessary tolerances if the manufacturer wants to have the part manufactured.
After the definitions, the dimensional chain then will be available to check.





According to the given names; Lift Gate to be A, upper part to be B, adhesive band to be C
and lower part to be D, the Gap which we are analyzing will have the formula of C = A-B-D.
That is the reason why the nominal sizes are given minus (check Arithmetical Calculation
section for detailed explanation).

MITCalc variable definition window
Dimension chain for the 2-Piece lift gate design.
43

Results for MITCalc


Required limit sizes

Permissible lower limit LL 0,00000 [mm]
Permissible upper limit UL 1,00000 [mm]
Mean 0,500000 [mm]

Arithmetic calculation (WC) Original Optimized
Mean m 0,950000 0,950000 [mm]
Tolerance T 2,950000 1,043000 [mm]
Minimum size Z
min
-2,000000 -0,093000 [mm]
Maximum size Z
max
3,900000 1,993000 [mm]

Statistical calculation (RSS) Original Optimized
Mean m 0,950000 0,950000 [mm]
Standard deviation s 0,516667 0,333469 [mm]
Productive yield Y 50,557 55,740 [%]
Reject R 494431,8 442600,4 [PPM]
Limit sizes for yield 99,73 ( 3 Sigma) [%]
Tolerance T 1,550000 1,000408 [mm]
Minimum size Z
min
-0,600000 -0,050408 [mm]
Maximum size Z
max
2,500000 1,950408 [mm]

The results which can be seen above, the productive yield is not as good as a manufacture
able part. This results only the half of the manufactured material to be able to pass the
tolerance analysis with given data. Optimization did not increase the yield, in which this case
a new design must be created. The conclusion part will discuss this topic in detail









Tolerance calculation graphs in behalf of the results.
44

VIS VSA

The second tolerance analysis program that was selected is VisVSA .This program is an
add-on from Team Center Visualization Mockup. The 3D-geometry created by the CAD
software CATIA V5 is visualized with the help of this software. The *.jt-Format serves as a
data basis for the analysis/presentation. This format has its origin from the conversion of the
CAD geometry in a reduced data, tessellated 3D geometry. The geometry information, like
the axis and point coordinates, still remains intact. This tessellation is done at the Ford
Motor Company daily. All frozen and published revisions within the Team Center
Databank are tessellated.

One of the most important areas of VisVSA is the
process document. The complete structure, that is
necessary for the simulation, is built up here. The
reference systems of the single parts are defined,
the assembly sequence defined and the necessary
elements for the measuring (planes, holes, long
holes, bolts) are, among other things, determined.
The single parts within the process document, from
the previously Team Center created *.jt
geometry, are interlinked. This reduces the volume
of data whereby very large assemblies can be
investigated also, but the adaptation of the
geometry, after changes have been made, is more
difficult. This is because all elements and
measuring points refer to the linked *jt geometry.
After a change of the geometry all elements within
the process document have to be newly linked.
Tolerances, reference systems and, if necessary, the joining sequences are taken from the
CAD-data and adopted in the process document. In the following Illustration only the first
level of the process document for the simulated assembly is shown. Further levels are gone
into more in depth later with the corresponding single parts.

Process document

It is left up to the user, in general, how the process
document is structured. However, when dealing with
large and complex assemblies it is advisable to create
a well thought out and labeled structure. This eases the
assigning of the elements to their respective
components greatly. It was decided to first define the
moving component and after the non-moving
component in the example assembly. Subsequently,
the virtual joining operation with the entered tolerances
is set up. Finally, the desired measurements, in
correspondence with the given tolerances, are
completed at the defined measuring points.
Process document, first definition part
Assembly visualization for the two parts to the
fixture. Points are the measurement sections.

45


Fixture Definitions
Component 1 (Upper
Part)
Component 2 (Lower
Part)

Measurements
46

Each feature in the fixture and part has its own direction
vector to be defined. For example the pins must point to the
direction perpendicular to the hole. The definition of the vector
has to be facing each other between the feature of part and
the feature of the fixture.
For the measurement of the angle of the vector, first of all one
must calculate the the andgle in a CAD program (in this case
Catia) and note the reuslts. Later that angle has to be
calculated as a tangential value:
! ! ! ! !"#! !"# !"# ! !!!"#$
I J K
Normal vector (outer) 1 0 0,6249
Normal vector (inner opposite
of outer)
-1 0 -0,6249


Assembly operation


Hole and slot locations and their tolerance definitions.

The single parts can, with the help of the command Add -> Operation -> Assembly, be joined
together in one assembly depending on the previously shown tolerances, after both
components of the assembly have been completely defined. The assembly is thereby
Normal
! ! !"#
! ! !"#

Blue line represents the
hole/slot reference surface for
the Upper Part.
47

created so that the joining points between the moving component (Object) and the fixed
component (Target) are defined. Hereby the single points to be connected, in a fixed order,
are selected in a fixed order until the positioning is completed. The fixed order reflects the
order from the reference system which was described at the Basic Terms section. First, the
four points are selected that define the Datum A, then the slot (which represents Datum B),
and the finally the hole that serves as Datum C. Thereby the assembly is completely defined.
To make this process clearer the assembly command together with the points on the
components is done by hole to pin.

The idea that is behind the program is to virtually think as this is a concrete test. Every
feature that is defined in the parts has to be fit either to a pin, tab or a surface. This way, our
holes are fixed to the pins that are precisely defined earlier to the program. The tolerances
for the pins are gathered from the Hole/shaft fits section. Each individual point is marked as
a datum A, hole is marked as datum B and slot is marked as datum C.
Measurement points

Now that the assembly is completely defined the measuring of the upper gap of the handle
can be undertaken. The position of the measuring points was extracted out of the drawing of
the gap specification. The cuts are provided in the following table:

Measurement points defined on the Upper Part:

X Y Z
Point_1.1 5043,294 599,324 1065,867
Point_2.1 5071,911 526 1065,867
Point_3.1 5109,918 439,436 1110
Point_4.1 5106,581 50,59 1110
Point_5.1 5106,581 -50,59 1110
Point_6.1 5109,918 -439,436 1110
Point_7.1 5071,911 -526 1065,867
Point_8.1 5043,294 -599,324 1065,867

Measurement points defined on the Lower Part:

X Y Z
Point_1.2 5043,294 599,324 1064,867
Point_2.2 5071,911 526 1064,867
Point_3.2 5109,918 439,436 1109
Point_4.2 5106,581 50,59 1109
Point_5.2 5106,581 -50,59 1109
Point_6.2 5109,918 -439,436 1109
Point_7.2 5071,911 -526 1064,867
Point_8.2 5043,294 -599,324 1064,867

The measurement points on the individual parts are defined as one of them in on top of the
gap and the other one is at exactly 1mm below of it. The idea was to check the tolerance
field which occurs between these parts where there will be adhesive band. The
48

measurement points could be increased or decreased depending on the needs of the
engineer.

The measurement points are later used in the tolerance analysis, thus definitions are rather
important. The vector for each point has to be facing the corresponding measurement point,
which means Point_1.1 has to have a normal vector which is facing Point_1.2. Normal
vectors are defined along the Z-axis to ease the calculations.

As the measuring points on Upper Part and Lower Part sheet metals have the same
reference coordinates only one point per sectional plane. During the tolerance simulation the
program will create 5000 virtual measuring points. These, in turn, will measure the distance
between both measuring points (within a sectional plane), between Upper Part and Lower
Part. These defined measuring points are stored as well in the process document under the
nodes Measurement Group Node.

Results for Vis VSA

The results as a diagram can be issued and analyzed after the simulation.

As the simulation reached different results on each of the measuring points, all eight results
should be presented. Unfortunately, the results for the simulation results expected to be
false. Even though it appears that the process line-up is right, there is expected a major
failure either from the hole/slot definition of the Lower Part which was described that the
gap between hole and slot must maintain 2/3 of the total width or the tolerances which was
given to the program has a major failure (this means not the values but the regulations).
Therefore, only one result is verified at this topic.

A diagram is shown with a tolerance distribution and to be expected tolerances, an estimate
of the proportion of defective parts and of a high low median (HLM) analysis. The
contributors can be calculated from the tolerance with help of the HLM analysis. Hereby the
tolerance values of each of the components are assumed sequentially as highest mean
and lowest value, while the rest of the tolerances keep the statistical mean value.

Result of measurement point 3
The number that is listed as 1 refers to the maximum (after the simulation from 6 Sigma), to
be expected dimension in cut Point_3. This dimension (41.03mm) greatly exceeds the
specification that is actually 1mm. Even though the dimension, purely statistically speaking
means nothing, one can still draw important conclusions regarding the tolerance distribution
of the gaps. The value shown in area 2 for the Upper Spec Limit, refers to the maximum
allowable value for the gap. In this case should have the value of 1 mm. The reject rate can
be derived from this value later, as observed in Area 3. As mentioned before, Area 3 is
dealing with the - to be expected rejects in percentage (%).




49


Result diagram for the measuring point 3.
The effective tolerance and HLM results are shown on the graph below. Unfortunately, the
results are clearly wrong since the effect value should maintain equal between lower and
upper parts. But, in further simulation, one must keep in mind that the equality is milestone in
this kind of tolerance analysis where two exact toleranced parts are analyzed.

HML analysis for the measurement point 3.



50

Conclusion

As the results of both MITCalc and VisVSA can be seen above, revision for the results
would be discussed at this section. Meanwhile, basic tolerance analysis could be done by
basic mathematical calculations, MITCalc - 30-days trial has been used for the tolerance
calculations.
From the results of MITCalc, one can clearly understand that the minimal gap size from
Ford of 1mm is clearly too small for the tolerance to fit. The program itself gave each part a
suitable tolerance field with the respect of 6-sigma, but the final fit would fail more than half of
the manufacturing. This loss is not neglectable. A minimum gap of 2mm to 2,5mm should be
maintained or the tolerance of the parts must be rearranged.
The results at the VisVSA are definitely false. It is clear that the basic tolerances are not
fit, so it cannot be expected to have correct results at the break-down analysis either. This
could be fixed by a new tailgate design where the hole/slot could maintain 2/3 of the total
width. So with the current design the tolerances clearly do not fit and it is impossible to
manufacture this to a production car.
More the less, one of the ideas could be to
use screw/nut feature instead of an adhesive
material. The lower part of the lift gate which
is cut has around 2kg weight. The total lift
gate weights 4,32kg so screw/nut feature
would not fail for 2kg force and to maintain
the corrosion seals could be used between
the parts.
To have an optimum hole/slot position, the
tail lights could be the perfect location to
place hole/slot features. There is already
defined hole/slot feature for the tail light so it
would have to be close but another location.
Holes and slots have to be mirrored with
respect to the middle of the vehicle. This is
not mandatory but a design house rule.
The only issue which must be dealt with the
proposal design alternative is the weld
locations. As described in Further surface
modification section, this trim would get
affected by 3 (6 if we count both sides) weld
locations; 58200-03-T-21, 58200-01-T-21
and 58200-02-T-21 weld points will interfere with the proposal design of the new trim line.



Proposal slot locations. Blue mark is the proposal new cut.
51

References

Technical Drawing, 10
th
Edition by Frederick E. Giesecke.
Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, 2003, David A. Matson, Goodheart-
Wilcox Co. Inc., Tinley Park, Illinois.
Drafting Manual Dimensioning and Tolerancing Symbols, 1997 Section 6.1 by
Bruce A. Wilson.
Dimensioning and Tolerancing, 2009. NY: American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, 2009. ISBN 0-7918-3192-2.
Manufacturing Properties of Engineering Materials, 2007 by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Aran.
Adhesives and Adhesive Tapes, 1997 by G. Gierenz and W. Karmann.
The Principles of Design, 1990 by Sun.P. .
Experimental Investigation of the Peel Strength and Peel Stress Distribution of
Aluminum Steel (Galvanized Foil) Laminate (pp. 122-133), 2010 by Okpighe,
Sunday Okerekehe.
http://www.mitcalc.cz .
Tolerance Analysis of lift gate handle by Sebastiano Fernandez.
Konzept zur Entwicklung Einer Mehrteiligen Geklappten Heckklappe 2012 by
Barbara Knops.