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Fits and Tolerances
Fits and Tolerances
Fits and Tolerances
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Tolerance and Accuracy .......................................................................................................................... 2
Fits ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
Choice of the appropriate fit and determination of the associated tolerances ..................................... 6
Surface Roughness .................................................................................................................................. 9
Steps to determine a proper fit ............................................................................................................ 11
Step1: Decide the needed fit: Clearance, Interference or Transition ............................................... 11
Step2: Select the tolerance grade and tolerance zone width........................................................... 11
Step3: Indicate the type of fit on the construction drawing ............................................................ 11
Step4: Indicate the tolerances on the working drawings ................................................................. 12
Solved Example: Clearance ................................................................................................................... 13
Solved Example: Interference ............................................................................................................... 14
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Introduction
When you tell someone in the workshop to turn a certain shaft to a diameter of 70 mm, of course
you dont expect him to give you the shaft exactly 70 mm; because there is nothing exact in
engineering. This diameter is called the Nominal Dimension of the spindle and it will be plus or
minus something, but are you going to accept this something? Your decision will depend on the
accuracy of the spindle. Wait! There is nothing in engineering that is called something!
Therefore, you must specify to him something that is called Tolerance. Tolerance is the allowable
deviation from a nominal value. This depends on the needed accuracy; when accuracy increases, the
deviation (or tolerance) decreases. But, the production cost also increases.
Tolerance
Production Process Field of Application
Grade
IT1
IT2
Used for gauges
IT3
IT4
Lapping - Very fine grinding - High quality
IT5 Piston pin holes in engines.
boring.
IT6 Fine grinding - Fine honing. Accurate bushes and bearings.
Grinding - High quality turning - honing - Bushes and high quality cylindrical
IT7
Broaching. bores.
IT8 Fine turning - Fine boring - Reaming. Good quality general holes.
IT9 Turning - Fine milling - Boring - Slotting.
IT10 Shaping - Milling - Rolling - Extrusion. Unimportant mating parts.
Rough turning - Drilling - Precision tube
IT11 Very coarse fits e.g. bolts and washers.
drawing.
IT12 Light presswork - Tube drawing.
IT13 General presswork - Tube rolling.
IT14 Die casting.
IT15
Casting - Forging.
IT16
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
For the dimensions not related to another part, the tolerance zone width is distributed
symmetrically around the nominal dimension. The diameter is written as follows: 70(half the
tolerance zone width).
Fits
But what happens when the previously mentioned shaft is related to another part? Say a hub of a
gear or pulley. We must first decide the relation between the shaft and the hub (clearance or
interference); this is called Fit. For the clearance case, the shaft diameter must be smaller than the
hub diameter; and for the interference case, the shaft diameter has to be larger than the hub
diameter. As we say smaller and larger, we must set a reference diameter and relate the other to it.
This is what we call Basic Shaft and Basic Hole systems. For example in the basic shaft system, the
shaft diameter is set as reference and the hub diameter determines the type of fit.
Figure 1 Deviations and Tolerances. Ref: Machine Drawing, New Age International Publishers.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Figure 2 Clearance Fit. Ref: Machine Drawing, New Age International Publishers.
Figure 3 Transition Fit. Ref: Machine Drawing, New Age International Publishers.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Figure 4 Interference Fit. Ref: Machine Drawing, New Age International Publishers.
A
Basic shaft system
B
C
D
E
F
G H
nominal size
h J K
M N P R S T
U
X
Z
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
- The alphabetical character specifies the position (deviation) of the tolerance zone with
reference to the zero line (nominal size); small letters for shafts and capital letters for holes,
the hole symbol is written first.
- The numerical character (1 to 16) indicates the quality grade.
Table 3 shows the recommended fits for various applications, and Table 4 shows the deviation of the
tolerance zone from the nominal size for different types of fits. Note that in clearance and
interference cases, the deviation value does not change if we use basic hole or basic shaft systems;
while in the transition case, the deviation value depend on the system followed.
- The tolerance is the difference between the maximum and minimum size limits of a
dimension. This is determined by the tolerance zone width.
- The deviation is the difference between the start of tolerance zone and the nominal
diameter. For a negative tolerance zone (below nominal size), the deviation is between the
upper tolerance limit and the nominal size line. For the positive tolerance zone (above
nominal size), the deviation is between the lower tolerance limit and the nominal size line.
This holds for both Basic Shaft and Basic Hole Systems. The deviation is expressed in letters,
a to z for shafts; and A to Z for holes.
- Fits are stated on the assembly drawing, while the tolerances are stated on the working
drawings.
- In most cases, the tolerance grade of the hole is greater than the grade of the shaft.
- Usually, the basic hole system is used in general machine construction; whilst the basic shaft
system is rarely used except in cases of a standard shaft (e.g. of a ball bearing) or hinges.
- Transition fits may be used in selective assembly. Selective assembly serves to give an actual
amount of interference or clearance.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Perceptible play
sliding bearings.
running fit H/f
sliding sleeves.
pistons in cylinders.
Can be moved without perceptible play
close
sliding gears and clutches. H/g
running fit
indicator pistons.
For effortlessly axial moving fitting parts
change gears.
spindle sleeve of tail stock. H/h
slide fit
adjustment rings for transmissions. H/g
pins in mechanisms.
centering registers for couplings and pipes.
Using a wooden hammer or by hand All can be
push fit H/j
hubs needing easy removal. used for:
Good for hand hammer couplings
holding fit H/k
keys. clutches
Transition
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Table 4 Deviations of the tolerance zone from the nominal size for different types of fits.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Surface Roughness
There is no ideally flat surface. There is usually a surface roughness based on the manufacturing
process producing the surface. The surface roughness is characterized by a mean roughness index
(Ra) which is the arithmetic mean of the absolute values of the heights of the profile between the
actual and mean profile.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Table 5 shows the values of the surface roughness for different accuracy grades. The following gives
some help to the designer in preparing the working drawings and the process sheets. Table 5 shows
RMS values of surface roughness for different accuracy grades.
These are indicated on the working drawings using the following symbols. The x is the maximum
allowed value of the surface roughness of this surface. The symbols in Figure 6 mean:
There is a roughness grade number which depends on the roughness values. These are listed in
Table 6.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Clearance means that all the probable sizes of the shaft (within the tolerance zone limits) are smaller
than all probable sizes of the hole (within its tolerance zone limits). If the whole tolerance zone of
the shaft is smaller than the whole tolerance zone of the hole, then this is a clearance condition. This
is designated by: h/A or h/B or h/C ------ or h/G for basic shaft system, and H/a or H/b or H/c ------- or
H/g for basic hole system.
Interference means that all the probable sizes of the shaft (within the tolerance zone limits) are
larger than all probable sizes of the hole (within its tolerance zone limits). If the whole tolerance
zone of the shaft is larger than the whole tolerance zone of the hole, then this is an interference
condition. This is designated by: h/P or h/R or h/S ------ or h/Z for basic shaft system, and H/p or H/r
or H/s ------- or H/z for basic hole system.
Transition means that there is a probability for the fit to be clearance or interference. This is
because the shaft tolerance zone intersects with the hole tolerance zone. The upper limit of the
shaft is larger than the lower limit of the hole. This is designated by: h/J or h/K or h/M or h/N for
basic shaft system, and H/j or H/k or H/m or H/n for basic hole system.
The different deviations for each grade of fit are shown in Table 4, and the recommended fit
condition for different applications is shown in Table 3.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Table 2 as a function of the tolerance grade selected in Table 1, and the dimension to be tolerated.
If the dimension is not related to another part, then it does not matter if this dimension is slightly
bigger or smaller. In this case, the tolerance zone width is divided by 2, and the dimension is written
as . For example, a dimension of 30 mm, IT7, has a tolerance zone width of 0.025 mm. In this case,
the tolerated dimension is written 30 0.012.
If this part is fitted to another part, we need to design a proper fit of the connection. Usually, the
hole dimension takes one IT grade higher than the shaft dimension. For example, if a shaft is 30 mm
in diameter and we need it to be IT7, then the hole in this case is IT8. For the shaft, the tolerance
zone width is 0.025 mm and the tolerance zone width for the hole is 0.039 mm.
30H8/c7
This is a clearance fit, basic hole system, the tolerance grade of the hole is IT8 and the tolerance
grade of the shaft is IT7.
For the basic hole system, the deviations for the clearance (a to g) are all negative (the shaft should
be smaller), whereas all other deviations are positive (the shaft should be larger). For the basic shaft
system, the deviations for the clearance (A to G) are all positive (the hole should be larger), whereas
all other deviations are negative (the hole should be smaller). This is shown in Figure 1.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Step1: Since the pulley is required to rotate on the shaft, the fit should be clearance. According to
Table 3, we choose H/e (Basic Hole). Note that usually pulleys can be considered a standard item
that you buy on-shelf. This mandates that we have a Basic Hole system.
Step2: Assume that the pulley manufacturer has chosen IT8 for the pulley hub dimension. The shaft
will be machined by fine turning and therefore, IT7 is an adequate choice for the tolerance grade of
the shaft. From Table 2, the tolerance zone width for 55 mm IT8 is 0.046 mm and for 55 IT7 is 0.03
mm.
Step4: In order to calculate the tolerances on each part, we have to get the deviation for each fit
type beside the tolerance zone width. The deviation for H is zero and the deviation of e is -0.06 mm.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Minimum Clearance = minimum possible hole (0) maximum possible shaft (-0.06) = 0.06 mm
Maximum Clearance = maximum possible hole (0.046) minimum possible shaft (-0.09) = 0.136 mm
Step1: Since the bush-housing assembly should be regarded as one unit, and no relative motion is
allowed between the two parts, the fit should be interference. According to Table 3, we choose H/r
(Basic Hole).
Step2: The housing hole is manufactured using a drilling process and then finished by a reamer. This
gives a possible tolerance grade of IT8. The outer surface of the bush is machined by turning, and IT8
can be used here. From Table 2, the tolerance zone width for 74 mm IT8 is 0.046 mm.
Step4: In order to calculate the tolerances on each part, we have to get the deviation for each fit
type beside the tolerance zone width. The deviation for H is zero and the deviation of r is -0.043 mm.
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AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY DESIGN & PROD. ENG. DEPT.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Second Year Mechanical
Machine Construction
Minimum Clearance = minimum possible hole (0) maximum possible shaft (+0.043) = 0 mm
Maximum Clearance = maximum possible hole (0.046) minimum possible shaft (0.043) = 0.003 mm
Minimum Interference = minimum possible shaft (0.043) maximum possible hole (0.046) = 0 mm
Maximum Interference = maximum possible shaft (0.089) minimum possible hole (0) = 0.089 mm
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