Thermal expansion of a part from its initial length, temperature rise and coefficient of thermal expansion. Two metres of steel grows about 24 µm per °C — enough to blow a tight tolerance.
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Request a Proposal →Materials expand when heated and contract when cooled. In precision machining, even a few degrees of temperature change can push a part out of tolerance. This calculator estimates the dimensional change for common engineering materials.
Parts warm up during machining (especially with aggressive cutting). A 10 deg C temperature rise on a 100 mm steel part causes ~0.012 mm expansion -- enough to scrap a tight H7 tolerance. Always measure at the reference temperature (20 deg C per ISO 1).
Heating a bore expands it, allowing a shaft to slide in easily. A 100 mm steel bore heated to 150 deg C expands by ~0.15 mm. This is the principle behind shrink fits -- the interference disappears when hot and returns when cool.
Tungsten carbide CTE ≈ 5.5×10⁻⁶/ deg C, roughly half that of steel. This mismatch causes stress in brazed carbide tools and carbide-reinforced components during thermal cycling.
Enter the original length, coefficient of thermal expansion (use 12 for steel, 23 for aluminium), and temperature change. The calculator shows the linear expansion and final length. Use positive ΔT for heating, negative for cooling.
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Use the calculator freely. If the result points to a tooling or process problem, we can source the exact carbide tooling you need from vetted factories in China. Compare factory-direct pricing.
Before you commit to a spec, it helps to know what the market pays for it. These are real, publicly listed factory prices — not a quotation, and not a guess.
We source the tool families below direct from vetted Chinese factories, matched to the material and tolerance you just worked out. Every batch ships with its material certificate and dimensional record.
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ALLOWING FOR THERMAL GROWTH? Thermal growth is why tight-tolerance work needs a supplier who controls temperature, not just dimensions. See what we verify in a precision grinding line.
We source carbide cutting tools from China for job shops. We do not own a factory, which is why we can quote your drawing against two or three plants that actually run your material.
Cutting formulas with the units worked through · Speed and feed starting points for all six ISO material groups · How to read a carbide grade past its ISO code. 12 pages.
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