Attempt to assess operational wear of camshaft cams

Purpose: The subject of the research was wear of camshaft cams studied in accordance with results of operation tests. Based on the said tests, the dependence of wear intensity of cams from their angular position was established. The respective calculation results enabled the function of cam fallibility to be determined. Design/methodology/approach: The research conducted included measurements of normal and excessive wear of camshaft cams. Based on measurements of several dozen cams, their angular positions at which the most intense wear occurred were established. They were described statistically by means of the Weibull distribution. Findings: Wear intensity of the camshaft cams examined is a function of the cam's angle of rotation. This dependence is characterised by occurrence of two maxima for the angles of ca. -40° and 30°. The cam wear intensity at the first maximum is usually smaller than at the second one. The wear intensity distribution does not depend on the cam type. Research limitations/implications: During operation, camshaft cams may be subject to accelerated wear. In this study, an attempt was made to assess this phenomenon based on measurements of the cams' geometry aimed at determination of the areas exposed to the most intense wear. Originality/value: In order to counteract the phenomenon of excessive wear of cams, one should consider altering the geometry of cams in the areas exposed to the most intense wear.