The thin layer activation technique applied to the on-line iron wear measurement of an engine cam nose

Abstract

The thin layer activation technique, in which 7 MeV proton beam was irradiating an iron surface to produce a very thin (several tens μm) activated region, was applied to the on-line iron wear measurement of an engine cam nose. The wearing amount of this activated part was measured using a Ge-semiconductor detector in an on-line and nondestructive method. The calibration curve of iron wear was obtained through the comparison of this radiometric method and the usual electromicrometer method in which an iron block wear test is performed by a polishing machine. For the application of this method to a real car engine part (engine cam nose), a data acquisition system was built using microcomputers. The wear characteristics were successfully measured and the effectiveness of this method was verified.