Blacksburg, Virginia Abstract Nondestructive evaluation techniques were employed to fully characterize three 2.3L camshafts tested in an engine simulator for an equivalent of 100,000 miles.
Results show cracking to occur mainly in the opening ramp of the most abusively ground cam lobes.
No clear evidence was found for subsurface cracking at depths as great as 200 mm from the lobe s surface. Profilometry results show no evidence of any major tribological effect due to the sliding friction of the follower. X-ray residual stress results made in the opening ramp of the tested lobes show evidence of residual stress relaxation. X-ray line width data as a function of depth does not correlate with residual stress. The author grants to Virginia Tech or its agents the right to archive and display their thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University Libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.