The Test Equipment for the Cam Follower - Case Study Example

A cam is usually a flat piece of tooled metal that is followed in a mechanical system in order to replicate a specific motion. On the rotation of the cam, a specific amount of pressure is applied to the follower which will then track the cam’s shape on the edged and will then translate the movements of the cam into the particular pattern of the movement. This simple principle of the movement of the cam follower after the cam is also applied to other various tasks because of its basic and simple nature and universality.

The pumping devices, lawnmowers, and motor vehicles use the cam follower motion principle. This system takes the simple shape of a rod of cams with mounted followers on it. A follower with a pointed head is mounted on a cam to follow the movement of the cam; however, the wear and tear of the cam will need the replacements more quickly. Some machine elements which are typically EHD-lubricated are workable under certain conditions of thermal effects due to which sliding cannot be neglected, these machine elements are cams, gears, and rolling elements bearings.

The other most important point is that these machine elements work mostly under transient conditions, in which the radius of curvature changes, load, and speed.Broader followers take considerable time in wearing out but some accuracy has to be sacrificed then. In order to keep in contact with the cam, the follower has to constantly apply the downward external force. This is important to keep a smooth and even contact of cam with followers. Without such a stabilizing constant downward force applied on the cam follower system, the system has a tendency to wobble or jitter, potentially causing a malfunction in the device being moved by the cam follower and wearing the system down more quickly.

Here the question arises how and to what extent the friction can be reduced or brought down by another system with a new and improved device. Most of the cams are made in very simple shapes and are designed in order to create basic motions.