ISO DIMENSIONAL

TOLERANCES & ISO FITS

Part I

(09.11.2017) by Haluk Bayraktar

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Tolerances

• It is extremely difficult and time consuming,

and practically illogical to serially manufacture
any given part without fault.

• So since there has to be some

faults/imperfections ,
these manufacturing mistakes should be limited
in order to distinguish the functionally useful
parts from the inappropriate ones.

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Tolerances

• The function of a part to be produced includes

the information “how precise at most or at
least should the part be produced”.

• It is the designers duty to define the precision

necessities, at time of product design.
• The products then are produced within these
limitations, called the “Tolerances”, in
accordance with cost minimization.

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Tolerances

▲Low Tolerance  High Cost

– TIME CONSUMING
– EXPENSIVE MACHINERY
– HIGHER QUALITY OF WORK & WORKER

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Tolerances

• The main Manufacturing Tolerances

are grouped as :
– Dimensional Tolerances (ISO Tolerances)
– Surface Quality Tolerances
– Geometric Tolerances

• Other specifications to products may

also exist, like Hardness, Corrosibility,
Electrical Conductance, etc.

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Link between Design and Manufacturing

Engineering Design Tolerances Manufacturing

Resultant Dimensions Production Cost

Fit and Function Requires Requires
Process Selection
Design Limits Tight Tol. Loose Tol. Machine Tools
Performance Operator Skills
Sensitivity Tooling, Fixtures
Robust to Variation Inspection Precision
Assemblability
Scrap and Rework
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Dimensional Tolerances

• Plus and Minus (older terminology)

– Non-standard tolerance ranges
– Varies by metric
• ISO Tolerancing (newer terminology)
– Standardized systematics to tolerancing
– Valid across different metrics

(The term conventional tolerancing also states dimensional

tolerancing apart from geometric tolerancing, therefore Plus
& Minus tolerancing is rather prefered)
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Plus & Minus Tolerancing

Limit Form Limit Form Uni/Bi Lateral

• The above tolerancing types are known

as plus & minus tolerancing and they
refer to the numerically given tolerance
limit values.
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Plus & Minus Tolerancing

• There are three types of plus & minus

tolerancing
– Unilateral (tek yönlü)
– Bilaterel (iki yönlü)
– Limit Form (alt-üst sınır)

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Plus & Minus Tolerancing – Unilateral Form
Varies in one direction Positive (higher)
is at top
Basic (No change
Dimension allowed in this
(for conventional direction for
tolerancing) this case)

Style I Smaller
value is at
Style II the bottom

Diameter/
Radius
dimensioning
form
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Plus & Minus Tolerancing – Bilateral Form
Varies in two directions

Same change
allowed in both
(±) directions

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Plus & Minus Tolerancing – Limit Form

No Basic Dimension is given, but the

boundary dimension is…

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ISO Tolerance Convention

• ISO Tolerance Convention organizes and

regulates dimensional tolerancing across
the world.
• So it regulates the values of these
tolerances.

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ISO Tol’s Nomenclature Tolerance Range
– Zero
Du Line
Da T
+ Gu
N
• Maximum Size [Gu] Ga

• Minimum Size [Ga]

• Nominal Size (Anma Boyutu) [N]
• Tolerance [Gu-Ga=T]
• Tolerance Range (Tolerans Aralığı)
• Average Size [(Gu+Ga)/2] or [N+(Du-Da)/2]
• Upper Deviation (Üst Sapma) [Du]
• Lower Deviation (Alt Sapma) [Da] 16
Possible Tolerance Zones
• Fundamental Fundamental
Deviation
Deviation is the N
+
–
closest deviation
to Nominal
Dimension +
N
– Fundamental
Deviation
Tolerance

+
N
– Fundamental
Deviation
Fundamental Lower Upper
Deviation Deviation Deviation

Nominal Dimension !!
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Fundamental Deviation & Tolerance

• Tolerance : The Gap a dimension

can differ within

• Fundamental Dimension : The

boundary of tolerance closest to
nominal dimension. [ It can either
be the Minimum or the Maximum
sizes defined by the Lower or Upper
Deviations ]
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Tolerance Range (Zone)

• TOLERANCE RANGE is given by an IT

Grade (ISO Tolerance Grade / IT Number)
Number
represented by numbers :

IT01, IT0, IT1, … , IT17, IT18

20 IT Grades exist for tolerancing in ISO

System, which represent pre-calculated
values in micrometers [μm]. (Their values
depend on the nominal dimension.)
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Fundamental Deviation
• FUNDAMENTAL DEVIATION is symbolized by
LETTERS each of which represent a
LETTERS,
calculated value in micrometers [μm]
(1μm = 0.001mm [10-3], micrometer)

(1nm=0.000001mm [10-6], nanometer)

(small letters)

for SHAFTS a, b, c, …, z, za, zb, zc

There are 28
deviations for
each
for HOLES A, B, C, …, Z, ZA, ZB, ZC
(CAPITAL LETTERS)
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ISO Tolerance Representation

• An ISO tolerance is represented as;

P7 , h8 , s6 , etc.

P stands for the 7 stands for the

Fundamental ISO Tolerance Grade
Deviation (IT Grade)

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Tolerance Range Data

• Tolerance Ranges are organized and calculated

for Diameter Groups
• Tables are created with this pre-calculated data
for standardization of tolerance selection.
• Therefore, standard manufacturing for
preferred tolerances is made possible.
(The term Diameter is used in place of the term Dimension,
because mostly cylindrical features are of subject.)

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Diameter Groups
• Diameter Groups are used for simplifying “IT GRADE”
and “FUNDAMENTAL DEVIATION” calculations
• Main Diameter Groups (in mm):

1..3 mm >3..6 >6..10 >10..18 >18..30

(0..500] >30..50 >50..80 >80..120 >120..180 >180..250

>250..315 >315..400 >400..500

>500..630 >630..800 >800..1000 >1000..1250

(500..3150]
>1250..1600 >1600..2000 >2000..2500 >2500..3150
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Diameter Groups

• There are also Sub-Diameter Groups, which are

listed on tables.

• For (0..500] dia groups, all IT grades are calculated

• For (500..3150], only IT1…IT18 grades are
calculated excluding IT01 and IT0.
(IT01 and IT0 are too precise for dimensions above
500mm)

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Diameter Groups

• For IT Grade and Fund.Dev calculations, effective

diameter is used. (it’s similar to averaging the area)
• Effective Diameter : Def = Da ⋅ Du (the geom.avg.)

where,

Da < d ≤ Du , ∀d

d = Actual Diameter
ex : d = 100mm
Da = Lower Diameter
Def = 80 ⋅120 = 97.97 mm
Du = Upper Diameter
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Calculating IT Tolerance for Tables
• i is the tolerance unit calculated for a given
dimension and a required IT tolerance grade
(0..500mm] (500..3150mm]

IT01 i = 0.3 + 0.008 ⋅ Def

(–)
IT0 i = 0.5 + 0.012 ⋅ Def
IT1

¦ i = 0.45 ⋅ 3 Def + 0.001 ⋅ Def i = 0.004 Def + 2.1

IT18
(No need to memorize the formulas, but know how to use the chart)
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Calculating IT Tolerance for Tables

• IT tolerances are found by multiplying the “ISO

Tolerance Unit” [i ] with a pre-defined “Quality
Constant” [K] (table for K is given on the next page)

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Calculating IT Tolerance for Tables
IT Grade 01 0

K – –

IT Grade 1 2 3 4 5 IT Tolerance [ μ m ] = i [ μ m ] × K
K 1 1.6 2.5 4 7

IT Grade 6 7 8 9 10
• Basically;
K 10 16 25 40 64
• Find IT Grade of the
IT Grade 11 12 13 14 15
Dim
K 100 160 250 400 640
• Multiply it with its K
IT Grade 16 17 18
• and get the Tol.Range
K 1000 1600 2500
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Calculated IT Tolerances
(Nominal Dimensions) (IT Quality Numbers)

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Which IT # is
used When ?

• This table
represents the
common uses
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Calculation of Fund.Deviations (just to give you
an idea)

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Variation of
Deviations
for Shafts &
Holes
for HOLES

for SHAFTS

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Variation of

Positive Deviations
Deviations
for Shafts &
Holes

Transition Region
Hole is larger Hole is smaller
(easy to fit) (hard to fit)

Devs.
Neg.
EASY to fit HARD to fit

Devs.
Pos.
Negative Deviations
Shaft is smaller Shaft is larger
(easy to fit) (hard to fit)

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Shaft Tolerances for 30-40mm (partial)

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Hole Tolerances for 30-40mm (partial)

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