Course Description

Intended for the professional or manager seeking an awareness of dimensioning and tolerancing who does not need to further their knowledge with a more in-depth course. Designed to provide you with an understanding of Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T) fundamentals, this course focuses on the basic requirements of engineering drawings, numeric dimensions and tolerances and geometric dimensions and tolerances.

GD&T is the language used on engineering drawings to specify the amount of variation (from the perfect CAD model) that a manufactured part is allowed to have. Also known as the tolerances, this variation allowed has a profound impact on the manufacturing and quality inspection plan for any part. When a design engineer releases a drawing to be produced, the entire enterprise needs a common technical language for communicating exactly what must be produced. GD&T is used to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Course Outline:

• The Basics of Manufacturing Prints: What manufacturing prints are and what they are not; Who uses them and how; The manufacturing cycle and purpose of drawings; The basic requirements of technical drawings; Interpretation of drawings according to standards and representing contractual requirements
• Dimensions: What dimensions are and why they are important; Fundamental dimensioning and tolerancing rules; Symbols associated with dimensions; Linear, diametral, radial, and angular dimensions; Dimensioning of common features
• Numeric Tolerances: What tolerances are and why they are important; The ways numeric tolerances are indicated on prints; Determining tolerance values for numeric tolerances given implicitly, explicitly, symbolically, and by limit dimensioning; Calculating tolerance accumulations
• Geometric Tolerance Fundamentals: How geometric tolerances work; Thinking of parts as collections of features not dimensions; Features with size and surfaces; Maximum Material Condition and Least Material Condition; What bonus tolerance is and when it applies
• The Datum Reference Frame Concept: The purpose of a datum reference frame; Establishing datums from various datum features; What datum shift is and when it applies
• Interpretation of Geometric Controls: The geometric characteristic symbols used to impose geometric requirements

Students Will be Able to:

• Recognize the deficiencies of drawings produced without GD&T
• Learn how geometric tolerances supplement conventional tolerances to specify limits on allowable variation.
• Calculate minimum and maximum allowable values for dimensions considering numeric tolerances.
• Recognize the symbols used with the geometric system of tolerances.
• Recognize basic dimensions on prints and understand their meaning.
• Identify and properly read feature control frames.
• Recognize when bonus tolerance is available and calculate geometric tolerance values when bonus tolerance applies.
• Recognize datum feature identifiers applied to features with size and surfaces.
• Analyze the datum reference frame including order of precedence.
• Identify and read geometric controls on location, orientation, form, profile & runout.

Course Delivery Details

• Class Duration: Online, 2x 3.5-hour sessions (7 hours synchronous instruction + asynchronous pre-work / homework)
• Course instructor: Charles A Gillis -Consultant, Design Engineering
• Prerequisites & Preparations: None
• Modes of Teaching and Learning: Lecture/discussion, Individual work sessions, Group work sessions, Large print review
• Textbook: Hammer’s Blueprint Reading Basics, 4th ed., by Charles Gillis, Industrial Press
• Who Should Attend: Engineering managers and supervisors, Mechanical design engineers & engineering technicians, Quality Control personnel, Machine shop and tool room supervisors, Supplier quality engineers

July course: 9:00-12:30pm each day
August course: 12:00-3:30pm each day