Application - Camshaft Contamination Analysis
A camshaft plays a critical role in an engine valve system. It pushes the intake and exhaust valves to open the inlet and outlet of the combustion chamber. There are two ways for the camshaft to push the valves: one method is to push them using a kind of lever principle called a rocker arm, and another one is to push a cup called a valve lifter installed at the base of the valve. Regardless of the method, the camshaft repeatedly slides against these parts, rotating at a very high-speed. When the sliding part of the camshaft, called the cam lobe, is contaminated or damaged, smooth intake and exhaust is prevented, resulting in poor engine combustion performance. For this reason, automotive manufacturers must ensure that the camshaft is clean and void of any contamination.
There are several types of contamination analyzers, but not all the methods they use are reliable or accurate enough to meet the strict contamination control standards:
- When gravimetric instruments are used, the contamination is analyzed based on its weight. This method provides the total weight of particulates, but inspectors are not able to observe the size and shape of contamination. Without this information, it is possible that large contamination may go undetected.
- Inspection using a low-magnification microscope, such as a stereoscopic microscope, has limitations with regards to the size of a particulate that can be detected. In this case, small contamination may be missed.
Solution Using the OLYMPUS CIX100 Technical Cleanliness Inspection System
There are several advantages to analyzing camshaft contamination with the OLYMPUS CIX100 Cleanliness Inspector system:
- Using the optical system of a metallurgical microscope, the OLYMPUS CIX100 system can detect smaller contamination than other optical-based contamination analysis devices.
- Since the OLYMPUS CIX100 system consists of hardware and software designed for and dedicated to contamination analysis, reliable data with high reproducibility and stability can be acquired.
- Using a unique optical system, metal and non-metal particulates are classified in one scan with high accuracy.
- Owing to the unique algorithm that is used to scan the stage, the OLYMPUS CIX100 system can perform a high-speed inspection while maintaining a high detection rate. Shorter inspection times are directly linked to lower costs.
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Example of the classifying contamination according to size in the software
