CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Geometric
Dimensioning and Tolerancing

F
or many in the manufacturing sector, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing is
a new subject. During World War II, the United States manufactured and shipped
spare parts overseas for the war effort. Many of these parts, even though they
were made to specifications, would not assemble. The military recognized that defec-
tive parts caused serious problems for military personnel. After the war, a committee
representing government, industry, and education spent considerable time and effort
investigating this defective parts problem; this group needed to find a way to ensure
that parts would fit and function properly every time. The result was the development
of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).
Ultimately, the USASI Y14.5–1966 [United States of America Standards Institute—
predecessor to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)] document was pro-
duced based on earlier standards and industry practices. The following are revisions to
that standard:

• ANSI Y14.5–1973 (American National Standards Institute)

• ANSI Y14.5M–1982
• ASME Y14.5M–1994 (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
• ASME Y14.5–2009

The 2009 revision is the current, authoritative reference document that specifies the
proper application of GD&T.
Most government contractors are now required to generate drawings that are toler-
anced with GD&T. Because of tighter tolerancing requirements, shorter time to produc-
tion, and the need to communicate design intent more accurately, many companies
other than military suppliers are recognizing the importance of tolerancing their draw-
ings with GD&T.
Conventional tolerancing methods have been in use since the middle of the 1800s.
These methods do a good job of dimensioning and tolerancing the size of features and
are still used in that capacity today, but they do a poor job of locating and orienting
features of size. GD&T is used extensively for tolerancing the size, form, orientation,
and location of features. Tolerancing with GD&T has a number of advantages over
conventional tolerancing methods; three dramatic advantages are illustrated in this
chapter.

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 2 Chapter One

The purpose of this introductory chapter is to provide an understanding of what

GD&T is, why it was developed, when to use it, and what advantages it has over con-
ventional tolerancing methods. With an understanding of this subject, technical practi-
tioners will be likely to learn the skill of tolerancing with GD&T more effectively; with
this new skill, engineers will have a greater understanding of how parts assemble, do a
better job of communicating design requirements, and ultimately be able to make a
greater contribution to their companies’ bottom line.

Chapter Objectives
After completing this chapter, the learner will be able to

• Define GD&T
• Explain when to use GD&T
• Identify three advantages of GD&T over coordinate tolerancing

What Is GD&T?
GD&T is a symbolic language used to specify the size, shape, form, orientation, and
location of features on a part. Features toleranced with GD&T reflect the actual relation-
ship between mating parts. Drawings with properly applied geometric tolerancing pro-
vide the best opportunity for uniform interpretation and cost-effective assembly. GD&T
was created to ensure the proper assembly of mating parts, to improve quality, and to
reduce cost.
GD&T is a design tool. Before designers can apply geometric tolerancing properly,
they must carefully consider the fit and function of each feature of every part. GD&T, in
effect, serves as a checklist to remind the designer to consider all aspects of each feature.
Properly applied geometric tolerancing ensures that every part will assemble every
time. Geometric tolerancing allows the designer to specify the maximum available tol-
erance and, consequently, design the most economical parts.
GD&T communicates design requirements. This tolerancing scheme identifies all
applicable datum features, which are reference surfaces, and the features being con-
trolled to these datum features. A properly toleranced drawing is a picture that not only
communicates the size and shape of the part but also tells a story that explains the toler-
ance relationships between features.

When Should GD&T Be Used?

Many designers ask, “When should I use GD&T?” Because GD&T was designed to
position features of size, the simplest answer is to locate all features of size with GD&T
controls. Designers should tolerance parts with GD&T when

• Drawing delineation and interpretation need to be the same

• Features are critical to function or interchangeability
• It is important to stop scrapping perfectly good parts
• It is important to reduce drawing changes

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 I n t r o d u c t i o n t o G e o m e t r i c D i m e n s i o n i n g a n d To l e r a n c i n g 3

• Automated equipment is used

• Functional gaging is required
• It is important to increase productivity
• Companies want across the board savings

Advantages of GD&T Over Coordinate Dimensioning and Tolerancing

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, industry has been using the plus or minus
tolerancing system for tolerancing drawings. This system has several limitations:

• The plus or minus tolerancing system generates rectangular tolerance zones. A

tolerance zone, shown in the example in Fig. 1-1, is a rectangular boundary within
which the axis of a feature that is in tolerance must lie. Rectangular tolerance
zones do not have a uniform distance from the center to the outer edge. In the
figure, from left to right and top to bottom, the tolerance is ± .005; across the
diagonals, the tolerance is ± .007. Therefore, when designers tolerance features
with a plus or minus .005 tolerance, they must tolerance the mating parts to
accept a ± .007 tolerance, which exists across the diagonals of the tolerance
zones.
• Size features can be specified only at the regardless of feature size condition.
Regardless of feature size means that the location tolerance remains the same no
matter what size the feature happens to be within its size tolerance. If a hole
such as the one in Fig. 1-1 increases in size, it has more location tolerance, but
with the plus and minus tolerancing system, there is no way to take advantage
of that additional tolerance.
• Datum features usually are not specified where the plus or minus tolerancing
system is used. Consequently, machinists and inspectors don’t know which
datum features apply or in what order they apply. In Fig. 1-1, measurements are
taken from the lower and left sides of the part. The fact that measurements are
taken from these sides indicates that they are datum features. However, since
these datum features are not specified, they are called implied datum features.

Ø3.000-3.030

±.007

.010

2.000 ± .005 .010

2.000 ± .005

Figure 1-1  The traditional plus or minus tolerancing system. The axis of the 3-inch hole must fall
inside the .010-square tolerance zone.

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 4 Chapter One

Where datum features are implied, the designer has not indicated which datum
feature is more important and has not specified whether or not a third datum
feature is included. It would be logical to assume that a third datum feature
does exist because the datum reference frame consists of three mutually
perpendicular planes, even though a third datum feature is not implied.

When locating features with GD&T, there are three important advantages over the
coordinate tolerancing system:

• The cylindrical tolerance zone

• The maximum material condition
• Datum features specified in order of precedence

The Cylindrical Tolerance Zone

The cylindrical tolerance zone is located and oriented to a specified datum reference
frame. In Fig. 1-2, the tolerance zone is oriented perpendicular to datum plane A and
located with basic dimensions to datum planes B and C. Basic dimensions have no tol-
erance directly associated with the dimension, consequently eliminating undesirable
tolerance stack-up. The cylindrical tolerance zone easily controls the orientation, per-
pendicularity in Fig. 1-2, of the axis because the tolerance zone extends through the
entire length of the feature.
Unlike the rectangular tolerance zone, the cylindrical tolerance zone defines a uni-
form distance from true position, the theoretically perfect center of the hole, to the toler-
ance zone boundary. When a .014-diameter cylindrical tolerance zone is specified about

Size Tolerance
Ø3.000-3.030 Location Tolerance
.014 M A B C
Ø.014 @ MMC
Cylindrical Tolerance Zone A

2.000

2.000
B

The rectangular tolerance zone Unless Otherwise Specified:

is ± .005 in the horizontal and .XX = ± .01
vertical directions. .XXX = ± .005
ANGLES = ± 1°

Figure 1-2  The cylindrical tolerance zone compared with the rectangular tolerance zone.

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 I n t r o d u c t i o n t o G e o m e t r i c D i m e n s i o n i n g a n d To l e r a n c i n g 5

10

14

Ø Tolerance Zone = .0102 + .0102 ≈ .014

Figure 1-3  A cylindrical tolerance zone provides a uniform distance from the axis to the edge.

true position, there is a tolerance if .007 from true position in all directions. A cylindrical
tolerance zone circumscribed about a square tolerance zone such as the one in Fig. 1-3
has 57% more area than the square in which the actual axis of the feature may lie.

The Maximum Material Condition Modifier

The maximum material condition symbol (circle M) in the feature control frame is a
modifier. It specifies that as the hole in Fig. 1-2 increases in size, a bonus tolerance is
added to the tolerance in the feature control frame.
The limit tolerance in Fig. 1-4 indicates that the hole size can be as small as 3.000 in
diameter (maximum material condition) and as large as 3.030 in diameter (least mate-
rial condition). The geometric tolerance specifies that the hole be positioned with a
cylindrical tolerance zone of .014 in diameter when the hole is produced at its maxi-
mum material condition. The tolerance zone is oriented perpendicular to datum plane
A and located with basic dimensions to datum planes B and C. As the hole size in
Fig. 1-2 departs from maximum material condition toward least material condition,
additional location tolerance, called bonus tolerance, is allowed in the exact amount of
such departure. If the hole specified by the feature control frame in Fig. 1-4 is actually
produced at a diameter of 3.020, the total available tolerance is a diameter of .034.

Maximum Material Condition (MMC)

Least Material Condition (LMC)

Size Tolerance
Ø3.000-3.030 Hole
Location Tolerance
.014 M A B C

Maximum Material Condition Symbol

Figure 1-4  The size, size tolerance, and feature control frame for the hole in Fig. 1-2.

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 6 Chapter One

Actual mating envelope 3.020

minus Maximum material condition -3.000
Bonus tolerance .020
plus Geometric tolerance +.014
Total positional tolerance .034

The maximum material condition modifier allows the designer to capture all the avail-
able tolerance.

Datum Features Specified in Order of Precedence

Datum features are not specified on drawings toleranced with the coordinate dimension-
ing system. The lower and left edges on the drawing in Fig. 1-5 are implied datum features
because the holes are dimensioned from these edges. But which datum feature is more
important, and is a third datum plane included in the datum reference frame? A rectan-
gular part such as this is usually placed in a datum reference frame consisting of three
mutually perpendicular intersecting planes. When datum features are not specified,
machinists and inspectors are forced to make assumptions that could be very costly.
The parts placed in the datum reference frames in Fig. 1-6 show two interpretations
of the drawing in Fig. 1-5. With the traditional method of tolerancing, it is not clear
whether the lower edge of the part should be resting against the horizontal surface of
the datum reference frame, as in Fig. 1-6A, or if the left edge of the part should be con-
tacting the vertical surface of the datum reference frame, as in Fig. 1-6B.
Manufactured parts are not perfect. It is clear that when drawings are dimensioned
with traditional tolerancing methods, a considerable amount of information is left to
the machinists’ and inspectors’ judgment. If a part is to be inspected the same way
every time, the drawing must specify how the part is to fit in the datum reference frame.
Each datum feature must be specified in the feature control frame in its proper order of
precedence.

4 X Ø.510-.530

2.50

.75

1.00 5.00
Unless Otherwise Specified:
.XX: = ± .01
ANGLES: = ±1°

Figure 1-5  No datum features are specified on this drawing.

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 I n t r o d u c t i o n t o G e o m e t r i c D i m e n s i o n i n g a n d To l e r a n c i n g 7

A B

Figure 1-6  Possible datum feature interpretation of the drawing in Fig. 1-5.

Summary
• GD&T is a symbolic language used to specify the size, shape, form, orientation,
and location of features on a part.
• GD&T was created to ensure the proper assembly of mating parts, to improve
quality, and to reduce cost.
• GD&T is a design tool.
• GD&T communicates design requirements.
• This text is based on the standard, Dimensioning and Tolerancing ASME Y14.5–2009.
• The cylindrical tolerance zone defines a uniform distance from true position to
the tolerance zone boundary.
• The maximum material condition symbol in the feature control frame is a
modifier that allows a bonus tolerance.
• Each datum feature must be specified in order of precedence.

Chapter Review
1. Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing is a symbolic language used to specify
the _______________ , ________________ , ________________ , ______________,
and _______________________________ of features on a part.
2. Features toleranced with GD&T reflect the _________________________
between mating parts.
3. GD&T was designed to ensure the proper assembly of _____________________
_____________, to improve __________________, and to reduce _____________ .
4. Geometric tolerancing allows the maximum available ___________________
and, consequently, the most _________________________________________ parts.
5. _____________________________________ is the current, authoritative reference
document that specifies the proper application of GD&T.

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 8 Chapter One

6. Plus or minus tolerancing generates a ______________  -shaped tolerance zone.

7. _____________ generates a cylindrical-shaped tolerance zone to control an axis.
8. If the distance across a square tolerance zone is ± .005 or a total of .010, what is
the approximate distance across the diagonal?_____________________________
9. Bonus tolerance equals the difference between the actual mating envelope size
and the ______________________________________________________________.
10. While processing, a rectangular part usually rests against a _________________
____________________________________________ consisting of three mutually
perpendicular intersecting planes.

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