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Profile of A Surface

Profile of a surface describes a 3D tolerance zone around a curved or complex surface to control how much the surface can vary from its intended shape. Any point on the surface must fall within this tolerance zone. Profile is commonly used for surfaces that are curved in multiple axes or have advanced curves that cannot be controlled by other GD&T symbols. It is usually measured using a CMM to scan the entire surface and check that it falls within the parallel tolerance boundaries.

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69 views

Profile of A Surface

Profile of a surface describes a 3D tolerance zone around a curved or complex surface to control how much the surface can vary from its intended shape. Any point on the surface must fall within this tolerance zone. Profile is commonly used for surfaces that are curved in multiple axes or have advanced curves that cannot be controlled by other GD&T symbols. It is usually measured using a CMM to scan the entire surface and check that it falls within the parallel tolerance boundaries.

Uploaded by

mooninja
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Profile of a Surface

by GD&T Basics on December 18, 2014.

GD&T Symbol: 

Relative to Datum: Optional

MMC or LMC applicable: No

Drawing Callout:
Description:
Profile of a surface describes a 3-Dimensional tolerance zone around a surface, usually
which is an advanced curve or shape. If it is called out on a curved surface, like a fillet
on a welded part, the entire surface where the radius is has to fall within the tolerance
zone. Profile controls all the points along the surface within a tolerance range that
directly mimics the designed profile. Any point on the surface would not be able to vary
inside or outside by more than the surface profile tolerance. Usually, when surface
profile is required, there are no tolerances on the dimensions that describe the surface
and use the GD&T callout to give the acceptable range.

GD&T Tolerance Zone:


3-Dimensional tolerance zone existing of 2 parallel surface curves that follow the
contour of the surface profile across the entire length of the surface. This tolerance zone
may or may not be referenced by a datum.
Gauging / Measurement:
Profile is usually measured using a CMM due to the complexity of some of the surfaces
that are called out. The CMM would compare the 3D scan of the profile to the
dimensions called out on the drawing to see if it was in spec. If a simple surface is
called out, such as a radius on a corner, a height gauge can be used to trace the part as
long as the gauge can stay the same distance away from the surface as rotates around
the surface.

Relation to Other GD&T Symbols:


Profile of a surface is the 3D version of profile of a line. The difference between them is
that profile of a surface would cover the entire required surface, making sure that every
point falls in the tolerance zone, not just at a cross-section.

When used without datums, Profile of a line can also be thought to be similar
to flatness or cylindricity as these symbols are only more specific versions of the profile
of a surface symbol. When used with datums, profile can mimic all the orientation
symbols (perpendicularity, parallelism, angularity) and even control the location and size
of a feature or surface. All of these tolerance symbols specify how much a surface of
any geometric shape can vary from its true form. All of these symbols have a tolerance
zone existing of parallel surfaces surrounding the measured profile.

When Used:
Profile is the catch-all symbol for surface control in Geometric Dimensioning and
Tolerancing. If it cannot be controlled with another symbol, profile is your best bet.
When used with datums it can control every aspect of a feature’s geometry which
includes size, location, orientation, and form.

Profile of a surface can be used for advanced curved surfaces, such as when a surface
curves in multiple axes at once. Commonly, casted parts call out surface profile when
the surface is curved to control the amount of variation. Other uses could be an airplane
wing, complex surfacing designs in automotive engineering, each requiring to fit
between two parallel surfaces of the same shape to ensure the profiles are always
consistent. Both profile of a line or profile of a surface can be called out on such
surfaces, however, surface profile is more common.

Example:
If you have a curved surface and want to ensure that every point falls within a
specific tolerance range, you would call out profile of a surface.

This could be considered an advanced curve that could only be controlled with the use
of a profile tolerance. The entire surface
would have to be measured, usually with a CMM and then determined if the whole
surface falls between the tolerance zones. Note: Profile only controls the variance of the
points in relationship to each other along the surface, similar to the flatness tolerance.

Final Notes to Remember:


Used with Surface Profile
Sometimes profile of a line is used in conjunction with profile of a surface. In these
cases, the line profile tolerance will be tighter than the surface tolerance. This ensures
that along any specific cross-section of the profile, the part will be tightly controlled,
while at a looser extent, the total profile is also controlled.

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