Geometric Tolerances

J. M. McCarthy
Fall 2003

Overviewofgeometrictolerances
Formtolerances
Orientationtolerances
Locationtolerances
Summary

ANSI Y14.5-1994 Standard

Thisstandardestablishesuniformpracticesfor
definingandinterpretingdimensions,and
tolerances,andrelatedrequirementsforuseon
engineeringdrawings.

Thefiguresinthispresentation
aretakenfromBruceWilsons
DesignDimensioningandTolerancing.

Tools for Measuring Dimensions

DialIndicator
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QuickTime and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Micrometer

Caliper

Comparator

DepthGauge

SurfacePlate

Overview of Geometric Tolerances

Geometrictolerancesdefinetheshapeofafeatureasopposedtoitssize.
Wewillfocusonthreebasictypesofdimensionaltolerances:
1.
2.
3.

Formtolerances:straightness,circularity,flatness,cylindricity;
Orientationtolerances;perpendicularity,parallelism,angularity;and
Positiontolerances:position,symmetry,concentricity.

Symbols for Geometric Tolerances

Form

Orientation
Position

Feature Control Frame

Ageometrictoleranceisprescribedusingafeaturecontrolframe.
Ithasthreecomponents:
1.thetolerancesymbol,
2.thetolerancevalue,
3.thedatumlabelsforthereferenceframe.

Reference Frame
Areferenceframeisdefinedbythreeperpendiculardatumplanes.
Thelefttorightsequenceofdatumplanesdefinestheirorderofprecedence.

Order of Precedence
Thepartisalignedwiththedatumplanesofareferenceframe
using321contactalignment.
3pointsofcontactaligntheparttotheprimarydatumplane;
2pointsofcontactaligntheparttothesecondarydatumplane;
1pointofcontactalignsthepartwiththetertiarydatumplane

Using a Feature as a Datum

Afeaturesuchasahole,shaft,orslotcanbe
usedasadatum.
Inthiscase,thedatumisthetheoreticalaxis,
centerline,orcenterplaneofthefeature.
ThecircleMdenotesthedatumisdefined
bytheMaximumMaterialCondition(MMC)
givenbythetolerance.

Material Conditions
MaximumMaterialCondition(MMC):Theconditioninwhichafeaturecontainsthemaximumamountof
materialwithinthestatedlimits.e.g.minimumholediameter,maximumshaftdiameter.
LeastMaterialCondition(LMC):Theconditioninwhichafeaturecontainstheleastamountofmaterial
withinthestatedlimits.e.g.maximumholediameter,minimumshaftdiameter
RegardlessofFeatureSize(RFS):Thisisthedefaultconditionforallgeometrictolerances.Nobonus
tolerancesareallowedandfunctionalgaugesmaynotbeused.

ANSIY14.5MRULE#1:
Adimensionedfeaturemusthaveperfectformatitsmaximummaterialcondition.
Thismeans:
Aholeisaperfectcylinderwhenitisatitssmallestpermissiblediameter,
Ashaftisaperfectcylinderwhenatitslargestdiameter.
Planesareperfectlyparallelwhenattheirmaximumdistance.

ANSIY14.5MRULE#2:
Ifnomaterialconditionisspecified,thentheitisregardlessoffeaturesize.

Straightness of a Shaft
Ashafthasasizetolerancedefinedforitsfitintoahole.Ashaftmeetsthistoleranceifateverypoint
alongitslengthadiametermeasurementfallwithinthespecifiedvalues.
Thisallowstheshafttobebentintoanyshape.Astraightnesstoleranceontheshaftaxisspecifiesthe
amountofbendallowed.

Addthestraightnesstolerancetothemaximumshaftsize(MMC)toobtainavirtual
conditionVc,orvirtualhole,thattheshaftmustfittobeacceptable.

Straightness of a Hole

Thesizetoleranceforaholedefinestherangeofsizesofits
diameterateachpointalongthecenterline.Thisdoesnot
eliminateacurvetothehole.
Thestraightnesstolerancespecifiestheallowablecurvetothe
hole.
Subtractthestraightnesstolerancefromthesmallestholesize
(MMC)todefinethevirtualconditionVc,orvirtualshaft,that
mustfittheholeforittobeacceptable.

Straightness of a Center Plane

Thesizedimensionofarectangularpartdefinestherangeofsizesatanycrosssection.
Thestraightnesstolerancespecifiestheallowablecurvetotheentireside.
Addthestraightnesstolerancetothemaximumsize(MMC)todefineavirtualconditionVcthat
thepartmustfitintoinordertomeetthetolerance.

Flatness, Circularity and Cylindricity

Circularity

Flatness

Cylindricity

Theflatnesstolerancedefinesadistancebetweenparallelplanesthatmustcontainthe
highestandlowestpointsonaface.
Thecircularitytolerancedefinesapairofconcentriccirclesthatmustcontainthe
maximumandminimumradiuspointsofacircle.
Thecylindricitytolerancedefinesapairofconcentriccylindersthatmuchcontainthe
maximumandminimumradiuspointsalongacylinder.

Parallelism Tolerance
Aparallelismtoleranceismeasuredrelativetoadatumspecifiedinthecontrolframe.
Ifthereisnomaterialcondition(ie.regardlessoffeaturesize),thenthetolerancedefinesparallelplanesthat
mustcontainthemaximumandminimumpointsontheface.
IfMMCisspecifiedforthetolerancevalue:
Ifitisanexternalfeature,thenthetoleranceisaddedtothemaximumdimensiontodefineavirtual
conditionthatthepartmustfit;
Ifitisaninternalfeature,thenthetoleranceissubtractedtodefinethemaximumdimensionthatmust
fitintothepart.

Perpendicularity

Aperpendiculartoleranceis
measuredrelativetoadatumplane.
Itdefinestwoplanesthatmust
containallthepointsoftheface.
Aseconddatumcanbeusedto
locatewherethemeasurementsare
taken.

Perpendicular Shaft, Hole, and Center

Plane
Shaft

Hole

CenterPlane

Shaft:Themaximumshaftsizeplusthetolerancedefinesthevirtualhole.
Hole:Theminimumholesizeminusthetolerancedefinesthevirtualshaft.
Plane:Thetolerancedefinesthevariationofthelocationofthecenterplane.

Angularity

Anangularitytoleranceismeasuredrelativetoadatumplane.
Itdefinesapairplanesthatmust
1.
containallthepointsontheangledfaceofthepart,or
2.
ifspecified,theplanetangenttothehighpointsoftheface.

Position Tolerance for a Hole

Thepositiontoleranceforaholedefinesazonethathasadefinedshape,size,locationandorientation.
Ithasthediameterspecifiedbythetoleranceandextendsthelengthofthehole.
Basicdimensionslocatethetheoreticallyexactcenteroftheholeandthecenterofthetolerancezone.
Basicdimensionsaremeasuredfromthedatumreferenceframe.

Material Condition Modifiers

Ifthetolerancezoneisprescribedforthemaximum
materialcondition(smallesthole).Thenthezoneexpands
bythesameamountthattheholeislargerinsize.
UseMMCforholesusedinclearancefits.

RFS

MMC

Nomaterialconditionmodifiermeansthetoleranceis
regardlessoffeaturesize.
UseRFSforholesusedininterferenceorpressfits.

Position Tolerance on a Hole Pattern

Acompositecontrolframesignalsatolerance
forapatternoffeatures,suchasholes.

Thefirstlinedefinesthepositiontolerance
zonefortheholes.
Thesecondlinedefinesthetolerancezonefor
thepattern,whichisgenerallysmaller.

Datum Reference in a Composite Tolerance

Adatumspecificationforthepatternonlyspecifiestheorientationofthepatterntolerancezones.

Nodatumforthepattern

Primarydatumspecified.

Summary

Geometrictolerancesaredifferentfromthetolerancesallowedforthesizeoffeature,theyspecify
theallowablevariationoftheshapeofafeature.
Therearethreebasictypesofgeometrictolerances:Form,OrientationandPositiontolerances.
Geometrictolerancesarespecifiedusingacontrolframeconsistingofatolerancesymbol,a
tolerancevalueandoptionaldatumplanes.
Materialconditionmodifiersdefinetheconditionatwhichthetoleranceistobeapplied.Ifthe
maximummaterialconditionisspecified,thenthereisabonustoleranceassociatedwitha
decreaseinmaterial.
1.Theformofafeatureisassumedtobeperfectatitsmaximummaterialcondition.
2.Ifnomaterialconditionisspecified,thenitisregardlessoffeaturesize.