Current methodologies for geometric dimensioning and tolerancing

The application of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) for mechanical design has gained widespread acceptance in industry. From a component design perspective, GD&T provides the engineer with a communication tool to fully describe the functionality of the item dimensionally. Further, GD&T gives the manufacturing engineer geometric information that will affect process and fixture design. The quality engineer derives functionality information that will impact dimensional verification or inspection. Unfortunately, several organizations have attempted to implement Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing without a fundamental understanding of how the design process is impacted. Improperly applied GD&T can very quickly make a good design bad. This paper attempts to explore the current thinking on the application of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing for component design.