Scuffing Risk Evaluation for Disk Cams with a Translating Roller Follower

A cam is a mechanical element that converts rotational or reciprocating input into complex follower motion, including nonlinear and intermittent profiles. In high-speed, high-precision systems, poor cam design can cause dynamic issues such as vibration, noise, and heat, leading to cam-follower separation, motion disruption, and scuffing. Scuffing results from lubricant film breakdown under extreme load or poor lubrication, causing direct surface contact, rapid temperature rise, and local damage such as scratching or welding. Using the flash temperature method, we investigated how cam profile design parameters—including cam rotating speed, percent sliding, oil supply temperature, surface roughness, and thermal contact coefficient—influence scuffing probability in a disk cam with a translating roller follower (TRF). The findings confirm that the scuffing risk for a TRF disk cam can be reduced when the running speed, percent sliding, oil sump temperature, and surface roughness are decreased and when the thermal contact coefficient is high.