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Dimensioning

Objectives
Review and understand the standard dimensioning practices
for mechanical drawings.
Apply the standard dimensioning practices.

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1 Dimensioning
Geometrics:
It is the science of specifying and tolerancing the shapes and
locations of features on objects.
Once the shape of a part is defined with a set of orthographic
drawings, the size information is added in the form of dimensions. Dimensioning a drawing also identifies the tolerance (or
accuracy) required for each dimension.

2 Size and Location Dimensions

A well-dimensioned part or structure communicates the size
and location requirements for each feature
Designs are dimensioned based on two criteria:
1. Basic sizes and locations of features.
2. Details for construction and for manufacturing.

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2.1 Units of measure

Most countries outside of the United States use the metric system of measure, or the international system of units (SI), which
is based on the meter.
The common metric unit of measure on engineering drawings is
the millimetre, abbreviated as

Angular dimensions are shown either in decimal degrees or in

degrees, minutes, and seconds. The symbol used for degrees
is , for minutes ', and for seconds ". Where only minutes and
seconds are specified, the number of minutes or seconds is
preceded by the 0.

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2.2 Dimensioning terminology

There are a number of terms relevant and important to dimensioning practices (refer to drawing).

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Dimension - Numerical value that defines the size, shape,

location, surface texture, or geometric characteristic of a feature. Normally, dimension text is
or
high, and the space between
lines of text is
or
Basic Di- - A numerical value defining the theoretically exmension
act size, location, profile, or orientation of a
feature relative to a coordinate system.
Basic dimensions have no tolerance.

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Reference - A numerical value enclosed in parentheses,

Dimension
provided for information only and not directly
used in the fabrication of the part.
It is a calculated size without a tolerance used
to show the intended design size of a part.
Arrows

- Symbols placed at the ends of:

dimension lines to show the limits of the dimension
leader lines (leaders)
cutting plane lines
Uniform in size and style, regardless of the
size of the drawing.
Arrow heads are usually about
long and
should be one-third as wide as they are long.

Visible
gap

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- There should be a visible gap of

between
the features corners and the end of the extension lines.

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Leader
line

- Thin, solid line used to indicate the feature with

which a dimension, note, or symbol is associated.
A leader line is generally a straight line drawn
at an angle that is neither horizontal nor vertical.
Leader lines are terminated with an arrow
touching the part or detail. On the opposite end
of the arrow, the leader line will have a short,
horizontal shoulder (
long). Text is extended from this shoulder such that the text
height is centered with the shoulder line.
Adjacent leaders on a drawing should be
drawn parallel to each other.

Tolerance

- The amount that a particular dimension is allowed to vary. All dimensions (except reference
dimensions) have an associated tolerance.
The tolerance is the difference between the
maximum and minimum limits.

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2.3 Size and location dimensions

A size dimension might be:
(a)

the overall width of a part or structure

(b)

the diameter of a drilled hole

A location dimension might be the length from the edge of an

object to the centre of a feature. The basic criterion is,

What information is necessary to

manufacture or construct the object?

The drawings below give examples of horizontal, vertical, diameter and radius dimensions.

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2.4 Standard practices

The guiding principle for dimensioning a drawing is clarity.
2.4.1Placement

2.4.2Spacing

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2.4.3Grouping & Staggering

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2.4.4Extension Lines

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2.4.5Reading Direction

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2.4.6View Dimensioning

2.4.7Repetitive Features

Use the symbol

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to dimension repetitive features.

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3 Detail Dimensioning
The drawing that follows gives examples of how to correctly
and incorrectly dimension a hole.

If it is not clear whether a hole extends completely through a

part, the word THRU can follow the numerical value.
Symbols are used for spotface, counterbored, and countersunk
holes. These symbols must always precede the diameter symbol.

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3.1 Symbols for Drilling Operations

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3.2 Dimensioning a Blind Hole

The depth symbol is used to indicate the depth of a hole. The
depth symbol precedes the numerical value. When the depth of
a blind hole is specified, the depth is to the full diameter of the
hole and not to the point.

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3.3 Diameter v/s Radius

If a full circle or an arc of more than half a circle is being dimensioned, the diameter is specified, preceded by the diameter
symbol. If the arc is less than half a circle, the radius is specified, preceded by an R.
Concentric circles are dimensioned in the longitudinal view
whenever practical.

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