4stHEAD
Cam Manufacture
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CAM MANUFACTURE is part of the 4stHEAD design software suite.  

The cam profile manufacturing data is found and output produced for a given valve lift characteristic allied to any of the common types of cam follower. The cam followers include:
- Direct acting Bucket follower (with/without offset)
- Direct acting Roller follower (with/without offset)
- Finger follower (roller/radius - compound pad)
- Rocker follower (roller/radius)
- Pushrod follower (flat/roller/radius)(with/without offset)

This output, in inch or metric units, can be saved in a format which is recognised directly by virtually all of the standard types of cam grinding machines (in the form of .des, .opn, .cls, .s96, .p and .r files).

There is also the ability to 'create a master cam' in either inch or metric units. Input data for the geometry of either a Berco or a Storm Vulcan or a Van Norman machine, or indeed any such machine, can be inserted and the master cam profile is not only calculated but the output data (inch or mm units) can be filed for the manufacture of that master cam. The output data includes the actual profile of the master cam as both point profile data and as the motion coordinates of a cutter of a designated diameter.a

The effect of offset tappets for all types of followers can be accurately computed with this program and it provides all information relevant to the design of a cam profile including radius of curvature, Hertz stresses and oil film thickness as the cam rotates for a complete (SAE) range of oils where the oil temperature is also an input data value.

Apart from storing cam grinding file information for standard grinding machines, also available is cam grinding wheel path profile data filed in the input/output format to enable cam grinding to be carried out with this information.

The software also outputs the profile of the cam to be manufactured in exactly the same format as would be recorded by a cam profile measuring machine on that camshaft when it is subsequently manufactured. The input data to the CAM MANUFACTURE program allows the user to specify a flat or ball (or roller) check follower. This permits the comparison of the profile of the manufactured camshaft on a cam profile measuring machine with the designed cam profile data to ensure the quality and accuracy of the manufacturing process.

Another program has been added to the software which takes any or all of the above cam manufacture data and re-computes it at cam angle intervals down to 0.05 deg (one can select cam angle intervals of 1.0, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, or 0.05 degrees) to include the data input of the precise diameter of the grinding wheel or the cutter, so as to predict the motion coordinates of the grinding wheel during the cam grinding process. The above procedure can also be conducted from cam tappet lift files supplied externally by design software other than 4stHEAD.

The 4stHEAD software caters for the design of all cam follower mechanisms, including finger followers. However, for the design of high performance engines there has been an increasing use of compound shapes for the cam follower pad. Hence, in the 4stHEAD software the design for manufacture of a cam follower pad with a double radius has been added to the software suite. It is not just a simple two radius design where the confluence of the two radii meet on the base circle, but is a more complex design where the confluence point of the two radii can be offset making it into a compound cam follower pad design yet one which is readily amenable to accurate manufacture. Accurate manufacture of the cam follower pad, and the finger, is just as essential as accurate cam profile grinding if accuracy of the valve lift profile is to be attained in practice. More detailed geometrical information on this update can be found in the 'cam manufacture' section on this website.

Input data screens for the Cam Manufacturing Program
A snapshot of some output graphics
An example of some of the help information pages
One of the help information pages for the grinding wheel profile
Creating a master cam for Berco-type master cam copying machines
Examples of enhancements to the cam manufacturing program
Finger follower with compound pad

Downloading the AVI files below may take several minutes due to their size:
Play an AVI animation of bucket tappet (924kb)
Play an AVI animation of pushrod (1670kb)
Play an AVI animation of rocker (820kb)
Play an AVI animation of finger follower (1030kb)
Play an AVI animation of grinder path with respect to cam (2032kb)
Play an AVI animation of cam profile grinding (3046kb)
Play an AVI animation of a Berco-type machine manufacturing a cam lobe using a master cam (2155kb)

 

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