Automated Gaging of Surface Texture on Engine Components
Surface texture of engine components such as crankshafts and camshafts is one of the most important factors that determine the performance, efficiency and the operating life of an internal combustion engine. Current practices and the challenges faced by design engineers in specifying the target surface topography to meet these goals have been reviewed. Once specified, the surface texture must be measured fast, accurately and repeatably in the rough environment of an engine manufacturing plant. The key components of an automated skidded surface finish measuring gage designed with these criteria in mind are described in this paper. The gage has 7 axes of motion and 3 stylus probes oriented in the axial and radial directions to take axial and facial measurements on journal and cam lobe surfaces and thrust bearing surfaces. The selection of surface texture parameters to best describe the desired surface texture of these engine components was investigated. The final stage of surface preparation is often the superfinishing process. The measurement gage must be able to provide the sensitivity and repeatability that are required for measuring the finely finished surfaces generated by this process. Typical surface texture results of a superfinishing process achieved on crankshafts are described. The results of a Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (R&R) study performed on the surface texture measuring gage are presented.