Diagnosis and prognosis of fuel injectors based on control adaptation

Abstract

Spark Ignition Direct Injection (SIDI) technology enablesbetter fuel economy and tail pipe emissions in vehiclesequipped with gasoline engines. The SIDI technology dependson the ability of the system to deliver fuel at high pressuredirectly into the combustion chamber, hence making thefuel injectors key subcomponents. Reliable performance offuel injectors is vital as it directly relates to the operability ofthe vehicle, and hence customer satisfaction in case of failure.It, therefore, becomes very important to devise a scheme thatcan effectively diagnose and prognose such a component. Inthis article, algorithm development for diagnosis and a pathwayto prognosis of fuel injectors is presented. We do notpropose any additional sensing capability, and make use ofwhat is available in most of the production vehicles todayacross the industry. In particular, the control adaptation offuel control and the associated diagnostics that are mandatedby regulators are employed to generate schemes for fault detection,fault isolation, and fault prediction. Results are presentedfrom vehicle test data that allow development of sucha scheme for fuel injectors.