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This work presents the results of a simulation using the Finite Elements Method (FEM) to study the contact pressure between cams and followers in assembled camshafts. The geometry was chosen based on an iron casting camshaft from a commercial car in order to have a base to ensure that the assembled camshaft is a great solution to increase the performance and to reduce weight. Surfaces that are in contact with high levels of contact pressure can increase the wear and reduce the lifetime of the components. In contact stress analysis, the most critical modeling consideration is to choose the ideal meshing, so, as a preparatory step we summarized with some simulations, defined an acceptable model to run 3D finite elements analysis and calculated the contact pressure.

The arrival of new competitors and the continuous growth of the customer requirements, lead the OEM's to reduce the product development time; thus, the simulation tools available on the market became mandatory to the new products development in the automotive industry. However, to simulate a full connecting rod set is very time consuming. The goal of this work is to present the main simplifications that can be set on a connecting rod simulation using the Finite Elements Method (FEM) without jeopardizing the results accuracy. The main contribution of this study is to provide time optimization to the engineers and to avoid a wrong interpretation of the results according to the boundary conditions adopted on the simplified model.

Frictional contact is a recurrent theme in engineering thanks to its ubiquity on several fields of study and the fact it can not be calculated ab initio. Furthermore, it gives rise to other complex phenomena that can only be predicted with the help of numerical methods, like the Finite Element Method (FEM). However, most FEM software still use Coulomb's local model of friction to estimate friction, which may not be reliable on predicting phenomena as complicated as the object of this paper. This work aims to simulate the stick-slip phenomenon in a press-fit and to compare this simulation with laboratory tests. The work was developed based on real cases such as the development of assembled camshafts using tubes. The structural simulations were performed using linear static analysis through the use of finite element method software. Tests were done on a digital torque tester machine used for bolts and nuts. At the end of the work the results obtained in the tests are presented.