Article
Article
Tolerance
Article By:
Black, Paul H. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
Last reviewed:June 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.699500
Amount of variation permitted or “tolerated” in the size of a machine part. Manufacturing variables make it impossible to produce a part of exact dimensions; hence the designer must be satisfied with manufactured parts that are between a maximum size and a minimum size. Tolerance is the difference between maximum and minimum limits of a basic dimension. For instance, in a shaft and hole fit, when the hole is a minimum size and the shaft is a maximum, the clearance will be the smallest, and when the hole is the maximum size and the shaft the minimum, the clearance will be the largest (see illustration).
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