STEP 1: Click Kinematic-FBs toolbar > Add Cam-Data FB

STEP 2: Click in the graphic-area

The Cam-Data FB is larger than other Function-Blocks.

It has five output-connectors.

We must link it to a 2D-Cam.

STEP 1: Double-Click the Cam-Data FB that is in the graphic-area  

The Cam-Coordinates dialog-box open.

<<< the image is the Cam-Coordinates dialog-box.

Link the 2D-Cam to the Cam-Data FB.

STEP 2: Click the 2D-Cam - in the graphic-area or the Assembly-Tree

The name of the 2D-Cam shows in the Selected Cam-Track box

STEP 3: Click to close the Cam-Coordinates dialog-box.

We will open the Cam-Coordinates dialog again, when we want to calculate the Coordinates of the 2D-Cam

There are five(5) output-connectors from the Cam-Data FB

< see image to see the output from each output-connector.

To calculate the Contact-Force and Contact-Stress between the Cam and the Cam-Follower, the Parts in the Following System must have mass  and inertia properties. We have not added mass or inertia to the Parts.

We can analyze the Pressure Angle, Radius-of-Curvature, and Entrainment Velocity. In this tutorial we will analyze the Pressure-Angle.

STEP 1: Drag a wire from the Cam-Data FB Pressure-Angle output-connector to a Graph FB

The Pressure-Angle of a Cam is an important parameter to analyze. A high Pressure-Angle, means that the force is not transferred from the cam to cam-follower very efficiently. The Pressure-Angle imposes extra forces on the machine elements in the Cam and the Cam-Follower systems. The forces increase rapidly when the Pressure-Angle is greater than 40° (an arbitrary angle as it depends on what is being driven by the cam). Many designers aim to keep the Pressure-Angle to less than 30°.

See Tutorial Forces 13 for force analysis.