The tolerance to be applied to bonded parts will be dependant upon a combination of the following factors(in no particular order):
1.Materials to be bonded
2.Size of items to be bonded
3.Bonding material
4.Alignment method
5.Bond thickness
6.Physical requirements of bond
7.The final application purpose
8.Original design intent
9.Method of bonding to be employed
10.Cost
It is in my experience possible to consistantly bond items of a structural nature (composite supporting ribs) within a total positional tolerance (radial) of 0.2mm, and with a bond thickness of 5 - 8 microns, however the tooling and preparation required was extensive.
At the other end of the scale, a general open tolerance of between +/- 0.25mm and +/- 0.5 is not unusual for low-tech non critical mass assembly.
It should be noted however that the governing factors are going to be those of the ten listed that cannot be changed for whatever reason, the technical information gathered from that point should enable you to accurately spec the rest of your requirements.
