Selective assembly is often followed in aircraft, automobiles and other industries where the

tolerance are very narrow

and are not possible to manufacturer by an sophisticated machine

at reasonable cost.
Here close tolerances to be achieved without actually being produced.

Limits of Size:
In deciding the limits for a particular dimension it is necessary to consider following.
1. Functional requirements: the intended function that a component should perform
2. Interchangeability: replacements of the component in case of failure/ damage without
difficulty
3. Economy in production time and cost.

Thus degree of tolerance provided on the mating components calls for a compromise.

Number of standards on
limit and fit systems has been published to help the designer in selecting the
uniform limits and fits.

Indian standard (IS 919 1963):

The Indian standard system of limits and fits comprises suitable combination of 18 grades
of fundamental tolerances or grades of accuracy of manufacturer (IT0 to IT16), and 25
types of fundamental deviations represented by letter symbols for both holes
and shafts
(capital letters A to ZC for holes and lower case letters a to zc for shafts).
In diameter steps up to 500mm.

The 25 fundamental deviations of hole are represented BY

A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,JS,J,K,M,N,P,R,S,T,U,V,X,Y,Z,ZA,ZB,ZC

M
M
L

Maximum and minimum Metal Limits

(Or Maximum and Minimum Metal conditions):

SHAFT

LML

LML

MML

HOLE

Figure: MML & LML of Hole and Shaft

If the tolerance for the shaft

is given as 25
limit will be 24.94 mm.

+0.05

, the upper limit will be 25.05 mm and the lower

The shaft is said to be have Maximum

Metal Limit (MML) of 25.05mm, since at this limit the shaft has
maximum possible amount of metal.
The limit of 24.95 will then be the minimum
or Least metal Limit (LML) because at this the shaft will
have the least possible amount of metal.

Similarly, for hole is designated as 30

+0.05

mm.

The upper limit will be 30.05 mm and the lower limit will be 29.95 mm.

Then, the maximum metal limit (MML) of hole

will be equal to 29.95 mm, since at this lower limit the hole
has the maximum possible amount of metal.
While the minimum metal limit (LML) of hole
will be equal to 30.05 mm. then, the upper limit of the hole
has the minimum possible amount of metal.

Some Definitions:
(Terminologies used in Limits and Fits)
Shaft: The term shaft refers not only to the diameter of a circular shaft but also to any external
dimension of a component.

Upper deviation

ZERO LINE

SHAFT
Figure: Shaft and Hole System

When an assembly is
made of two parts, one is known as male-surface and the other mating part as female
(enveloping) surface.

The male surface is called as shaft and the female surface is called as hole.

Basic Size or Nominal Size: It is the standard size of a part in relation to which all limits of
variation are determined. the basic size is same for hole and shaft.
Actual size: actual size is the dimension as measured on manufacturing part.
Zero line: it is straight line drawn horizontally to represent the basic size. In the graphical
representation of limits and fits, all the deviations are shown with respect to the zero line (datum
line).

The positive deviations

are shown above zero line and negative deviation are shown below zero line as

shown in figure.

BASICSIZE

Upper
deviation

shaft

Max dia

Lowe
r
deviation

hole

d
i
a

M
i
n

Tolerance for hole

Tolerance
forshaft

HOLE

Min dia

d
i
a

M
a
x

Lower deviation

Hole: The term shaft not only refers to the diameter of the circular hole but also any internal
dimension of a component.