Analyzing And Comparing Lobe Profiles

Here is what I look at when designing a cam profile or analyzing another cam profile. There are other things I look at but these would be the most common.

lobe lift
duration at 0.006
duration at 0.020
duration at 0.050
duration at 0.100
duration at 0.200
duration at 0.300
duration at 0.400
duration at 0.500
velocity curve
acceleration curve
jerk curve
radius of curvature
pressure angle
ramp designs
valve lash settings / valve contact

This data will usually give me an overall idea of the cam profile and a good comparison with other cam profiles in the same category. The lift table data is fine if the graphs are not available. Making graphs from the data is always an option. The radius of curvature and pressure angles will need to be calculated if that data is not available. Both are important so that information is necessary. There is much more to a cam profile than just the lift and the duration at .050. Unfortunately, that is usually all the information available from the camshaft manufacturer. Some sort of computerized measuring device will be necessary to easily obtain the other data.