Title: Characterisation of solenoid valve failure for electronic diesel fuel injection system of commercial trucks

Authors: Chyuan-Yow Tseng, Chiu-Feng Lin

Addresses: Department of Vehicle Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan. ' Department of Vehicle Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan

Abstract: The fuel injection control system significantly affects the fuel efficiency and emissions from the diesel engine of a commercial truck. For electronic diesel fuel injection control (EDC) systems, e.g., Bosh PE-EDC, possible faults include rack deformation, solenoid valve failure, and rack-travel sensor malfunction. Among these problems, solenoid valve failure is most likely to occur in in-use diesel engines. Since the solenoid valve is mounted inside the diesel fuel pump, it is hard to access for diagnosis. Therefore, this paper is intended to study the characteristics of the failure, and then study the possibility of developing a method for its diagnosis. A method was developed using feed-forward and feedback control algorithms. Through the studies of this paper, it is found that the solenoid failure is caused by the wear between its plunger and sleeve, and the symptom is the variation of Coulomb frictional force. A series of experiments were carried out to show and characterise the symptoms. The proposed method is also validated through these experiments.

Keywords: solenoid valves; fault diagnosis; diesel engines; fuel injection systems; commercial trucks; parameter estimation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2006.010017

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2006 Vol.13 No.3, pp.180 - 193

Published online: 08 Jun 2006 *

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