Various emission and fuel economy norms for passenger cars have been introduced by the government worldwide. In India, meeting each revision of the Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms is challenging, and requires the incorporation of new technologies into IC engines. One such technology used in gasoline engines is Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).
The entry of dust particles into the EGR system makes it vulnerable to malfunction. One such fleet validation challenge of EGR valve malfunction has been addressed in this study, where the EGR valve became stuck due to dust entry, leading to engine hunting and stalling.
The approach followed for the issue resolution demonstrates a method of developing an EGR valve controller for simulating the failure on a bench setup. The controller setup was built around a microcontroller chip that accurately operated the valve with similar logic to that of the vehicle ECU. In addition to operating the valve, the controller monitored the valve travel in real time, logged the test data on an SD card, and alerted the user if anomalies were detected.
Accelerated tests were designed and the proposed countermeasure was successfully validated using the controller setup. The versatility of the system enables it to be customized for various engines and test cycles, with minor changes in programming.