Abstract
Among the many problems encountered in the automotive industry is the early failures of automotive valve trains. In this work, numerical methods, based on the Floquet theory, to evaluate the steady-state response and parametric stability of a general multi-degree-of-freedom system with periodic coefficients are presented. The accuracy and efficacy of these solution methods are then investigated. To that end, a multi-degree-of-freedom model based on an experimental cam-follower mechanism is utilized. The stability determination method is found to be accurate and the reduction in the computational time is significant. An error analysis of the steady-state solution is also performed. This analysis demonstrates the efficiency and accuracy of the direct numerical solution algorithm. Hence, it may be used as a tool in the analysis and design of flexible cam-follower systems such as automotive valve trains.