FITS and TOLERANCES

Standard Limit Systems

• Standard system of limits and fits are to
provide guidance to the user in
– Selecting basic functional clearances and
interferences for a giving application / a type
of fit
– Establishing tolerance which will provide a
reasonable and economic balance between
fits, consistency and cost.
 Universal interchangeability
• Every country has its own standards for limits and fits
• Universal interchangeability is essential to follow a
uniform standard throughout the world
British standard BS-4500-1969
The International Standard ISO:286-1988
Indian Standard IS-919
All these three standards make use of the following:
1. Standard Tolerance 2. Fundamental Deviation
 Indian Standard System of Limits
and Fits (IS- 919 and 2709)
• These Indian standards are in line with ISO (International
Organizations for Standards) recommendations
• It consists of 18 tolerance grades and 25 fundamental deviations
• 18 tolerance grades are designated as IT01,IT0,IT1,
IT2,……,IT16
• 25 fundamental deviations are designated by letters
• For shaft: Capital letters : A,B…..Zc
• For hole : Small letters: a,b…,zc
• Innumerate fits ranging from extreme clearance to extreme
interference can be obtained by using suitable combination of
tolerance grades(18) and fundamental deviation(25) for each
shaft and hole
 Possible positions of the tolerance zone
in case of shafts
ISO standard uses tolerance position letters with lowercase letters for the
shafts.

Fundamental Deviation: is the deviation closest to the basic size.

 Possible positions of the tolerance zone in
the case of holes
ISO standard uses tolerance position letters with capital letters for the holes.

Fundamental Deviation: is the deviation closest to the basic size.

Letter symbols for tolerances (Diameter 30-40mm)
 Fundamental deviation for shafts of sizes upto 500mm

ES(UD of hole)=es (UD of shaft) – of same letter symbol but of opposite sign
Fundamental deviations for shafts above 500 mm and upto 3150mm
 Indian Standard System of Limits
and Fits (IS- 919 and 2709)
• Upper deviation of shaft – Denoted by - es
• Lower deviation of shaft – Denoted by – ei
• Upper deviation of hole – Denoted by - ES
• Lower deviation of hole – Denoted by – EI
IT: International Tolerance
 Tolerance Grades
• Numerical values of standard tolerances are determined in terms
of standard tolerance unit ‘i’ (microns)

• These tolerance values will be calculated with the help of the

relevant magnitude given below, where D is geometric mean of
upper and lower diameters of a particular diameter step in which
diameter lie
Different diameter steps: 1-3,3-6,6-10,10-14,14-18,18-24,24-30,……………180-200

Tolerance
IT5 IT6 IT7 IT8 IT9 IT10 IT11 IT12 IT13 IT14 IT15 IT16
Grade

Magnitude 7i 10i 16i 25i 40i 64i 100i 160i 250i 400i 640i 1000i
• Seven finest grades – IT01 – IT5 are applicable to upto 500mm
• Eleven coarse grades – IT6 – IT16 are applicable to upto 3150mm
• ISO : 286-1988 provides 20 grades for tolerance – IT01- IT18.

APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT GRADES

T01 to IT4 – For the production of gauges, plug gauges, measuring

instruments
IT5 to IT 7 – For fits in precision engineering applications
IT8 to IT11 – For General Engineering
IT12 to IT14 – For Sheet metal working or press working
IT15 to IT16 – For processes like casting, general cutting work
Manufacturing process and IT grades produced
 Designation of Holes, Shafts
• Using basic size followed by a letter
representing FD and the number of
tolerance grade.
• Eg:
• 50H7 is a 50mm H hole with tolerance
grade IT7
• 50f8 is a 50mm h shaft with tolerance
grade IT8
 Designation of Fits
• 50H7f8
• Basic size followed by hole designation
and shaft designation
Selection of Fits
Control Measurements of
Finished Parts
Calculation of tolerances and
limits of size
• Step 4: Tolerance unit i is given by

i= 1.856µ for D=63.25

• Step 5: Tolerance grade IT8 for hole
IT8=25i =46.4µ =0.046mm
• Step 6: Tolerance grade IT7 for shaft
IT7=16i =29.696µ =0.030mm
• Step 7: Limits for Hole
Lower limit=Basic size +FD = 60+0=60
Upper limit = LL + Tolerance
= 60+0.046=60.046mm
• Step 8: Limits for Shaft
Upper limit=Basic size - FD
= 60 – 0.030=59.970mm
Lower limit = UL - Tolerance
= 59.970-0.030=59.940mm
• Step 9: Type of Fit
Since upper limit of shaft is smaller than
lower limit of hole, clearance fit is obtained.
 TYPES OF ASSEMBLIES
Three ways in which mating parts can be
made to fit together in the desired manner:
 Trial and error
 Interchangeable assembly
 Selective assembly
 Trial and error
• Used when small number of similar
assemblies are to be made by same
operator
• Then necessary fit can be obtained by trial
and error method
• Operator makes one part to nominal size
as accurately as possible.
• Other part is then machined by trial and
error method till the required fit is obtained
 Interchangeable assembly
• Used when large number of components are to
be produced.
• In such case, it will not economic to produce
both mating components by the same operator.
• Also, components are to be produced in
minimum possible time, which is possible only
by mass production.
• In mass production,
– there is division of labour
– Components are produced
• in 1 or more batches
• By different operators
• On different machines
• In mass production, in order to assemble the mating components
with a desired fit, a strict control is exercised and the parts are
manufactured with specified tolerance limits.
• When a system of this kind is used, any one component selected at
random will assemble correctly with other mating component, that
too selected at random. This system is called
INTERCHANGEABLE ASSEMBLY
• Manufacture of components under such conditions is called
INTERCHANGEABLE MANUFACTURE
 Advantages of Interchangeability
 Trial and error method is eliminated and so assembly time is
reduced.
 Increased o/p with reduced production cost
 Due to division of labour, operator has to do same operation
again and again. This helps in improving the quality and
reduce the time of operation.
 Facilitates production of mating components at different places
by different operations.
 Replacement of worn/ defective parts becomes easy.
 Cost of maintenance is reduced to minimum.
 Selective assembly
• It is sometimes uneconomical to manufacture parts to the
required degree of accuracy so as to make them
interchangeable
• Consumer wants *Quality, *Precision trouble free products--
**at economical prices.
• Sometimes, if a part of its lower limit is assembled with
mating part at high limit, fit obtained may not satisfy the
functional requirement of assembly.
• Complete interchangeability in the above cases can be
obtained at some extra cost in inspection and material handling
by using “ selective assembly” where parts are manufactured
to wider tolerances.
 Selective assembly

Cylinder Bore 49.98 50.00 50.02

Piston 49.86 49.88 49.90
 Gauges and Gauge Design
• Manufactures parts can be checked
– to determine whether they are according to the
specifications or not
– To control their dimensions
• Dimensions of component can be checked with
• Precision measuring instruments – which measures the
actual part
• Measured dimensions are compared with standard
specified dimensions – to decide whether the
components are accepted or not.
• In mass production, this procedure is time consuming and
costly
• In mass production, Conformance of the part with tolerance
specification can be checked by GAUGES
 Gauges
– They are scaleless inspection tools – used to check
the dimensions of manufactured parts
– Also check the form and relative positions of the
surfaces of parts
– They do not determine the actual dimension of the
part
– They are used to check whether the inspected part
is made within the specified limits
– These gauges consists of two sizes –
corresponding to maximum and minimum limits
– Plug Gauges- For gauging hole limits
– Snap Gauges - For gauging shafts
 Advantages of Gauges
(Used widely in mass production)
– Easy to employ/use – by unskilled operators
– No need for any calculations
– No need to determine actual dimensions of the part
– Time involved for inspection is reduced
Difference of Gauges from Measuring
Instruments
– No adjustment required in their use
– Not general purpose but are specially made for
some particular component – in large quantites
– Give quick result of conformance/ non –
conformance of the part with specified tolerances
 PLAIN GAUGES
Used for checking unthreaded holes and shafts
According to their type
(a) Standard Gauge (b) Limit Gauge
According to purposes
(a) Workshop gauge (b) Inspection gauge (c) Reference/Master
Gauge
According to form of tested surface
(a) Plug Gauge (b) Snap, gap or Ring gauge
According to their design
(a) Single limit and double limit gauges
(b) Single ended and double ended gauges
(c) Fixed and adjustable gauges
 STANDARD GAUGES
If the Go gauge is an exact model of the mating member whose
dimensions to be checked, then such a gauge is termed as the
standard gauge.
EXAMPLE:
• If a bushing is manufactured to mate
or assemble with shaft, then shaft
is mating part.
• The busing is checked by a
Go-gauge is a copy of the mating
part, that is the shaft.
Limitations:
• Standard gauge is only an ideal concept.
• It is not possible to use standard gauge as there is always
some tolerance provided on the work component, and this
tolerance does not takes into account of standard gauge.
• Cannot be used to check interference fit
 LIMIT GAUGES
• Limit gauges are widely used in industries.
• As there are two limits of a component (high and low), two
gauges are required to check each dimension of the component.
• One gauge is called a “Go-Gauge” should pass through or over
the part. It checks MML(Max Metal Limit)
• Other gauge is called a “No-Go-Gauge” should not pass through
or over the part. It checks LML(Min Metal Limit)

• Difference between the sizes of two gauges = Tolerance of workpiece

• If both gauges fail to pass - Hole is undersize/Shaft is oversize
• If both gauges pass - Hole is oversize/Shaft is undersize
 LIMIT PLUG GAUGES
• Gauges used for checking the holes- Plug Gauges
• ‘GO PLUG GAUGE’ – Has size of low limit of hole
• ‘NO GO PLUG GAUGE’ – Has size of high limit of hole
 PLUG gauges are marked with the following on
their handles for their identification

• Nominal size
• Class of tolerance
• Word GO – on Go side
• Word NO GO – on Not –go
side
• Actual value of tolerance
• Manufacturer’s trade mark
• A red color band near NOT –Go end to
distinguish from Go end
 SOLID TYPE
For sizes upto 10mm
RENEWABLE TYPE PLAIN PLUG GAUGE
(TAPER INSERTED TYPE)
For sizes over 10mm and upto 30mm
RENEWABLE TYPE
 FASTENED TYPE PLAIN PLUG GAUGE
Double ended type
- For sizes over 30mm and upto 63mm
 FASTENED TYPE PLAIN PLUG GAUGE
Single ended type
- For sizes over 63mm and upto 100mm
 Flat type
• For sizes over 100mm and
upto 250mm
 Progressive Type Plug Gauge
• For relatively short through hole
• Has both the ends on one side of the gauge
 Pilot type plug gauge
Used to prevent jamming of plug gauge inside the hole
It consists of
• A small chamber
• A narrow ring /pilot : Diameter = Body of gauge
• A groove
• Then the main body of gauge
Pilot – as ellipse w.r.t hole
- It touches at two points across the major axis = Diameter of the plug
If pilot enters the hole, whole body will enter the hole

Advantages:
Operator can work even with less care and
hence saving in time
 Combine dual purpose gauge
• It combines GO and NO –GO dimensions in a single
member
• Spherical end A – to check lower limit
(Diameter=Lower limit)
• Spherical projection B of outer edge– to check upper
limit (Diameter=Upper limit)
• Handle is parallel to axis of
hole- when checking the hole for
GO limit
• Handle is tilted - when checking the
hole for NO-GO limit(In this position,
it should not enter the hole)
 SNAP,GAP/RING GAUGES
• Gauges used for checking the SHAFTS
• Snap gauges: For both cylindrical and non-
cylindrical works
• Ring gauges: For cylindrical works

RING GAUGE

SNAP GAUGE
Gauging surfaces are hardened upto 750HV and are stabilized, ground and lapped
Double ended snap gauges

Can be used for checking sizes from 3mm to 100mm

 Single ended progressive Gauge

Can be used for checking sizes from 100mm to 250mm

 Adjustable gap gauges
• Gauge anvils are adjustable endwise in horseshoe
frame
• If for some reason, tolerance is changed from f8
to f6, same gauge can be used after adjustment
• Adv:
– Permits adjustment to compensate for wear
– Can be used over a small range of different
setting.
Disadvantage:
Expensive
 Material for Gauging
• Material for gauge should have
– Hardness to resist wear
– Stability to ensure that its size and shape will not
change over a period of time
– Corrosion resistance
– Should be machined easily to required shape and
to required degree of accuracy
– Low coef. of linear expansion to avoid temperature
effect
– Parts of gauge which are to be held in hand should
have low thermal conductivity
 Material for Gauges
1. High Carbon steel
• By suitable heat treatment – stability and hardness is
achieved
• Inexpensive
• Easily machinable to good accuracy and finish
2. Special wear resisting material
• Hard chrome plated surface
• Tungsten carbide
• Invar
 Care of Gauges
In order to increase the life of gauges, proper care should be
taken
1. Master, inspection and working gauges - should be used only
for which they are intended
1. Master gauge – To check inspection & working gauges
2. Inspection Gauge – To check the finished product
3. Working gauge – To check the product as it is being manufactured
2. Plain cylindrical gauge- should be cleaned properly, a thin film
of light oil should be applied to gauging surface before it is used.
3. Force should not be applied in gauging operation, as it tends to harm
the gauge, the work or both.
4.Gauge should be cleaned properly after use and prepared for storage.
If to be stored for short time –Coated with rust preventive oil
For Long time – Dipped in molten plastic material – designed as
protective coating for tools and gauges
1.
 • It implies that GO gauge should have a full circular section
and of full length size of the hole it has to check
• This ensures that any lack of straightness/roundness of the hole
will prevent the entry of full length GO plug gauge
If the condition is not satisfied, inspection of the part with gauge
may give wrong results
Eg: If the bush to be inspected has circular axis
• Short plug gauge – will pass through the
curve of bending bush – giving wrong result
that “Hole is within the prescribed limit” –
even though the hole is defective
Length of ‘GO’ plug gauge -