workpiece. This is actually caused by the inevitable, though very slight,
inaccuracies inherent in the machine tool as well as by various
complicated factors like the elastic deformation and recovery of the
workpiece and/or the fixture, temperature effects during processing, and
sometimes the skill of the operator. Since it is very difficult to analyze
and completely eliminate the effects of these factors, it is more feasible to
establish a permissible degree of inaccuracy or a permissible deviation
from the nominal dimension that would not affect the proper functioning
of the manufactured part in a detrimental way. According to the ISO
(International Standardization Organization) system, the nominal
dimension is referred to as the basic size of the part. The deviations from
the basic size to each side (i.e. , positive or negative ) determine the high
and the low limits, respectively, and the difference between those two
limits of size is called the tolerance. The tolerance is an absolute value
without a sign. As you may expect, the magnitude of the tolerance is
dependent upon the basic size and is designated by an alphanumeric
symbol called the grade. There are eighteen standard grades of tolerance
in the ISO system, and the tolerances can be obtained from the formulas
or the tables published by the ISO. It is obvious that smaller tolerances
require the use of high-precision machine tools in manufacturing the parts
and therefore increase production costs.
Before two components are assembled together, the relationship
between the dimensions of the mating surfaces must be specified. In other
words, the location of the zero line to which deviations are referred must
be established for each of the two mating surfaces. This actually
determines the degree of tightness or freedom for relative motion between
the mating surfaces. There are basically three types of fits, namely,
clearance fit, transition fit, and interference fit. In all cases of clearance
fit, the upper limit of the shaft is always smaller than the lower limit of
the mating hole. This is not the case in interference fit, where the lower
limit of the shaft is always larger than the upper limit of the hole. The
transition fit, as the name suggests, is an intermediate fit. According to
ISO, the internal enveloped part is always referred to as the shaft,
whereas the surrounding surface is referred to as the hole. Accordingly,
from the fits point of view, a key is referred to as the shaft and the
keyway as the hole.
There are two ways for specifying and expressing the various types of
fits, the shaft basis and the hole basis systems. The location of the
tolerance zone with respect to the zero line is indicated by a letter, which
is always capital for holes and lowercase for shafts, whereas the tolerance
grade is indicated by a number, as previously explained. Therefore, a fit
designation can be H7/h6, F6/g5, or any other similar form.
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