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GD&T Symbols Perpendicularity (https://www.gdandtbasics.com

List /perpendicularity/)
Special Note:

Perpendicularity in GD&T can mean two very different things

(https://www.gdandtbasics.com
depending which reference feature is called out. The normal form or
/datum/) Surface Perpendicularity is a tolerance that controls
Perpendicularity between two 90° surfaces, or features. Surface
Perpendicularity is controlled with two parallel planes acting as its
tolerance zone. Axis Perpendicularity is a tolerance that controls
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com
how perpendicular a specific axis needs to be to a datum. Axis
/true-position/)
Perpendicularity is controlled by a cylinder around a theoretical
perfectly parallel axis. Pay close attention if a hole or pin is
referenced since axis perpendicularity is commonly called out
on these features.
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com
/circularity/)

GD&T Symbol:  
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com
/parallelism/) Relative to Datum: Yes
MMC or LMC applicable: Yes
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com
/cylindricity/) GD&T Drawing Callout:
Surface Perpendicularity:
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com
/profile-of-a-surface/)

(https://www.gdandtbasics.com

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Axis Perpendicularity:

Description:
Surface:
Perpendicularity is a fairly common symbol that requires the
referenced surface or line to be perpendicular or 90° from a datum
surface or line (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/datum/).
Perpendicularity can reference a 2D line, but more commonly it
describes the orientation of one surface plane perpendicular to another
datum plane. The tolerance of the perpendicularity callout indirectly
controls the 90° angle between the parts by controlling the location
where the surfaces have to lie. See the tolerance zone below for more

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details.

Note: Perpendicularity does not control the angle of the referenced

feature –the tolerance is in distance units. (mm/in)

Axis:
Axis control can also be called out for Perpendicularity and is one of the
more common forms of axes call outs. When it   is referenced for a
circular feature, the feature control frame will contain the diameter (Ø)
symbol. Axis Perpendicularity can be applied to a positive feature
(pin/boss) or to a negative feature (a hole). When Perpendicularity is
referenced for axial control of a feature, the symbol now specifies a
cylindrical boundary where the axis of the referenced feature must lie.
This cylindrical boundary is formed by taking a line that is directly
perpendicular to the datum feature. When this version of
Perpendicularity is called out it is to be used with maximum material
condition (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/maximum-material-
condition/) to enable easy gauging of the part. See example 2 below
for how these particular parts are gauged.

GD&T Tolerance Zone:

Surface:
Two parallel planes or lines which are oriented perpendicular to the
datum feature or surface. The planes are held perpendicular to the
datum, but only ensure that the entire feature falls into the tolerance
zone.

Remember: Perpendicularity does not directly control the

angle of the referenced surface; it controls the envelope (like
flatness) where the surface needs to be.

Axis:

A cylinder surrounding a referenced theoretical axis which is directly

perpendicular to the datum feature. The tolerance zone is the diameter
of this symbol in which the central axis of the measured feature must
lie.

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(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/05-
Perpendicularity-axis-tolerance-zone.jpg?89189c&89189c)

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Gauging / Measurement:
Surface:
Perpendicularity is measured using a height gauge, similar to flatness,
however the gauge (or part) is locked to a 90° datum to measure how
perpendicular the surface is. The entire surface has to be measured if it
is a flat feature.

Axis:

To ensure that a part or feature is axially perpendicular, Maximum

material condition is most often called out on axis perpendicularity to
allow easy measurement with a gauge. This allows it to be designed for
either a negative (hole) or positive (pin) feature and can take into
account a bonus tolerance.*

Gauge size for an internal feature (like a hole):

Gauge Ø (pin gauge)= Min Ø of hole (MMC) – Perpendicularity

Tolerance

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Gauge size for an external feature (like a pin):

Gauge Ø (hole gauge) = Max Ø of pin (MMC) + Perpendicularity

Tolerance

See Example #2 below for a good example Axis Perpendicularity using

MMC.

*Note on Bonus Tolerance:

When a functional gauge is used for Perpendicularity, any difference
the actual feature size is from the maximum material condition would
be a bonus tolerance. The goal of a maximum material condition
callout is to ensure that when the part is in its worst tolerances, the
orientation  and size of the hole/pin will always assemble together. This
means that if you make a pin smaller, you make more bonus tolerance
for yourself. This bonus can be added to the GD&T tolerance and would
widen the perpendicularity tolerance.

Bonus Tolerance = Difference between MMC & Actual condition

(See Example 2 Below)

Confused yet? No worries! For more detail on see the sections

on Maximum Material Condition.
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/maximum-material-condition/)

Relation to Other GD&T

Symbols:
Surface:
Perpendicularity is a specific form of Angularity
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/angularity/) at 90°. All of the
orientation symbols (Angularity, Parallelism
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/parallelism/), and Perpendicularity) all
call out the particular feature envelope referenced to a datum.

The Perpendicular Symbol is also closely related to flatness

(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/flatness/) when referenced/measured
surface is a surface plane. When you call out Perpendicularity, flatness
is implied (you are measuring a surface variation between two parallel
planes = Flatness) Perpendicularity is always measured with respect to

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a datum, where flatness is not.

Axis:
Perpendicularity is closely related to all the other orientation GD&T
symbols when called on an axis. The tolerance zone now refers to the
uniformity and cylindrical envelope of a central axis. Perpendicularity
and Parallelism can be called out on holes and cylindrical pins, often
with MMC added.

When Used:
Surface:
Whenever two surfaces needing a constant 90° angle, Perpendicularity
is effective. Flange bearings and critical square edges usually reference
it. Perpendicularity is also commonly called out on the corners of
cylinders where the flat bottom must be perpendicular with the curved
sides.

Axis:
Perpendicularity is very commonly called out on the center axis of a
hole. Almost always, your hole needs to be perpendicular to the
surface it is drilled into. When this is the case, it is called out alongside
MMC to ensure that if a pin or bolt needs to be inserted into this hole,
the part can enter the whole perpendicular at and always fit in. See
example 2 for this explanation.

Surface Perpendicularity
Example:
The edge of a stopping block for a rail must form a 90° to ensure
proper mating contact takes place. The base of the block is will be our
datum and the face where the stopping block makes contact is our
referenced surface. To ensure that this face is always perpendicular
and flat to make good contact, you would need to both tightly control
the angle and the dimensional width of the part.

(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/08-

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Perpendicularity-Example-1a.jpg?89189c&89189c)

Ensuring perpendicular/flat surfaces without GD&T symbol

With perpendicularity you can open up the width dimension and control
the face’s angle containing the part very tightly. Your tolerance zone
remains the same, but your part is now easer to control and fabricate.

Controlling the perpendicularity with GD&T symbol.

Axis Perpendicularity Example

with MMC:
If you have a critical hole feature that needs to remain parallel to the
surface that is formed into, perpendicularity can be called out to
ensure that the hole is straight. In this example a bolt hole is specified
to remain perpendicular to its surface.

(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/10-
Perpendicularity-Example-3.jpg?89189c&89189c)

Perpendicularity on a hole under MMC

Without an MMC callout you would need to control just the center axis
of the hole and measure for it to ensure it is at 90° to the bottom

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surface. However when MMC is called out on the print, you are
controlling both the size and the orientation of the hole. You now can
check the both tolerances using a functional gauge with the following
dimensions:

Formula for a perpendicularity functional gauge:

Gauge Ø (pin gauge) = Min hole Ø – Perpendicularity Tolerance

Gauge Ø = 9.9 – 0.2 = 9.7

(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/11-
Perpendicularity-Example-4.jpg?89189c&89189c)

Hole Ø + Hole Perpendicularity > 9.7 (Pin Ø) to be in spec.

Due to the Max Material Condition callout, if you have a hole that is
larger than the MMC of 9.9 you will have bonus tolerance that can be
added on to your perpendicularity. (According to print Hole Ø cannot be
above 10.1 though)

In the example below – The hole is at the least material condition

(largest hole size) with the hole at the LMC, your bonus tolerance that
can be added to the perpendicularity is calculated as follows:

Bonus Tolerance = Actual Part Size – Max Material Condition

Bonus Tolerance = 10.1 – 9.9 = 0.2

(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/12-
Perpendicularity-Example-5.jpg?89189c&89189c)

Adding this bonus tolerance to your perpendicularity means your

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“gauged” perpendicularity tolerance can go up to 0.4 when the part is

at its largest diameter.

Final Notes:
Very Common:
Perpendicularity is very common in its surface and axis form. You will
see this commonly on many mechanical engineering drawings.

Features of Size:
Perpendicularity will most likely have a MMC or LMC callout if gauge
control is used in a production environment. It allows both size and
orientation to be measured quickly on the line, as opposed to having to
measure perpendicularity with a CMM.

Axis Controls:
Straightness (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/straightness/), Axis
Angularity, Axis Parallelism, True Position
(https://www.gdandtbasics.com/true-position/), and Axis
Perpendicularity can all be called out to control a center axis. Usually
when this is a case in a production environment, MMC is also called out
so that a functional gauge can be used. However the only callouts with
this case that you would see commonly are perpendicularity and
straightness.

GDandT Basics (https://www.gdandtbasics.com

/author/gdt-guy/)

Total Runout (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/total-runout/)

Concentricity (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/concentricity/)

Related Posts

63 Comments
Kim says:
April 1, 2019 at 2:53 pm (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/perpendicularity
/comment-page-8/#comment-1714)

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Can an (axis) perpendicular control frame have a zero tolerance?

ex: perp Ø 0.00m A (-A- is a datum plane w/ cylinder perpendicular to it
– Ø53.400 +0.00/-0.005 -B-)

Reply (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/perpendicularity
/?replytocom=1714#respond)

Matt Derr (https://www.gdandtbasics.com) says:

April 2, 2019 at 9:31 pm (https://www.gdandtbasics.com
/perpendicularity/comment-page-8/#comment-1718)

Kim –

Yes, I suspect that what you are seeing is referred to as ‘zero

tolerance at MMC’. If there is no MMC next to the tolerance in the
feature control frame then there is a problem. The MMC condition
invokes the concept of ‘bonus’ tolerance, wherein, as the feature
departs from MMC towards LMC you gain additional tolerance equal
to the amount of departure from MMC. Thus, in your example, if
your cylindrical feature was produced at 53.400 the axis of the
cylinder would have to be theoretically perfect to datum A. Now, if
you feature was produced at 53.395, your tolerance zone would be
.005.

Reference Section 6.4.4 in the ASME Y14.5 – 2009 standard for more
information. Alternatively, our GD&T Advanced course has a lot of
good content to help on this and many other topics if you’re
interested.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Matt

Reply (https://www.gdandtbasics.com/perpendicularity
/?replytocom=1718#respond)

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