Experimental and numerical verification of bifurcations and chaos in cam-follower impacting systems

In this paper we present the design, modelling and experimental validation of a novel experimental cam-follower rig for the analysis of bifurcations and chaos in piecewise-smooth dynamical systems with impacts. Experimental results are presented for a cam-follower system characterized by a radial cam and a flat-faced follower. Under variation of the cam rotational speed, the follower is observed to detach from the cam and then show the emergence of periodic impacting behaviour characterized by many impacts and chattering. Further variations of the cam speed cause the sudden transition to seemingly aperiodic behaviour. These results are compared with the numerical simulation of a mathematical model of the system which shows the same qualitative behaviour. Excellent quantitative agreement is found between the numerical and experimental results.