GD&T in automotive assembly: using

datum targets to locate surfaces

In manufacturing and assembly, parts must be accurately and repeatably

located in a well-defined reference frame to ensure consistent quality. For
many automotive parts, because of the large and irregular surfaces
involved, the entire surface of the feature cannot be used as a datum.

In these cases, we use datum targets to establish a datum reference frame.

This post will present a possible case in the automotive industry for
locating a car door with the 3-2-1 location method, using datum target
areas.

For more detailed information on datum targets, you may refer to the
ASME standard, section 4.24  .[1]

3-2-1 Locating with Datum Target Areas

The aim of ideal location is to create an accurate and repeatable datum
reference frame for the part while avoiding overconstraint. The 3-2-1
location method is widely used to attain this goal.

A free body has six degrees of freedom; linear translations in the X, Y and

Z axes, as well as rotational motion around each of the X, Y and Z axes,
also referred to as pitch, yaw and roll.

The 3-2-1 location method is used to eliminate these degrees of freedom

gradually by constraining the part to datum targets.

3 Datum Target Areas on the Primary Datum Plane

Select 3 positions for datum targets on the largest surface of the part,
positioning them as far apart as possible for stability (Figure 1). Since we
have a very large surface, the use of datum target areas instead of points for
simulated datums is more precise. In our case, these datum target areas are
designated by A1, A2 and A3.

Figure 1. Primary datum plane defined by three datum target areas (A1, A2, A3)
With these three datum target areas, we have eliminated translation in the
Z-axis and rotation around the X-axis (roll) and Y-axis (yaw).
2 Datum Target Areas on the Secondary Datum Plane

Select 2 points on the second largest surface of the part, perpendicular to

the primary datum plane (Figure 2). Again, we make use of datum target
areas instead of points for our simulated datum. These datum target areas
are designated by B1 and B2.

Figure 2. Secondary datum plane defined by two datum target areas (B1, B2)

With these two datum target areas, we eliminated translation in the Y-axis
and rotation around the Z-axis (pitch).

1 Datum Target Area on the Tertiary Datum Plane

Select 1 datum target area on a surface perpendicular to both of the

previous datum planes (Figure 3). This datum target area is designated by
C1.

Figure 3. Tertiary datum plane defined by one target area (C1)

With this final datum target area, we eliminated the translation in the X-
axis.

Figure 4. Final Drawing with datum target locations table

Lastly, we should define the locations of these datum target areas with
respect to a defined coordinate system (Figure 4). Take note that this was
just one of the possible datum reference frames we could define. Another
interesting and commonplace configuration would be to use more than
three datum targets on the primary datum plane. We will delve into this
subject in the next blog posts.

References

ASME Y 14.5-2009, Dimensioning and Tolerancing. New York: American

Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Dimensional Management Variation Handbook, John V. Liggett, 1993