Analysis of Cam and Follower Mechanism to Reduce Jerk and Induced Stresses

The objective of this work is to model, design and analyse a cam and follower mechanism, which has minimum jerk and induced stresses for a defined motion. A cam and follower mechanism of a vehicle was chosen for analysis and suitably modified so as to minimize the jerk and stresses induced in the cam and also follower. The expressions for displacement, velocity and acceleration are derived by adopting a geometrical procedure. The kinematic analysis is further extended to dynamic analysis. Based on the results of kinematic and dynamic analysis, it was decided to modify the cam profile in order to reduce the jerk, an unwanted phenomenon that occurs due to sudden change of acceleration. Different cam profiles were generated by varying the nose radius and central distance between the base circle and the nose circle, maintaining the lift of the follower and base circle diameter constant. The work was further extended to determine the stresses developed in both the cam and follower. This was carried out using SOLIDWORKS and ANSYS Workbench. A comparative study is made with reference to the stresses and jerk to arrive at the best cam and follower design.