Study of Factor Causing Wear of a Barrel Cam in a Paper-Cup-Forming Machine by Using Multibody Dynamics Model

The barrel cam, which is a type of cylindrical cam, has been widely used as a part of index drive units for automatic manufacturing machines. The axis of rotation of the barrel cam is orthogonal to the axis of rotation of the follower. The index drive rotates or dwellsdepending on the cam profile, while the cam rotates with a constant velocity. Continuous sliding contact between the barrel cam and the follower surfaces causes wearing of the adhesive between them. This study shows that the contact force between two sliding bodies is responsible for the wear of the barrel cam in the paper-cup-forming machine. This contact force is calculated by using the multibody dynamics model of the paper-cup-forming machine. The analytical result is validated by comparing it to the actual wear spots on the real product.