Implementation of a fault tolerant system for the internal combustion engine’s MAF sensor

• Published in: Measurement : journal of the International Measurement Confederation 2018-07, Vol.122, p.91-99
• Main Authors: Gutiérrez León, P., García-Morales, J., Escobar-Jiménez, R.F., Gómez-Aguilar, J.F., López-López, G., Torres, L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptive observer; Air flow; Differential equations; Engine control; Engines; Fault detection; Fault tolerance; Internal combustion engine; Internal combustion engines; MAF sensor; Observers; Redundancy; Sensors; Supervision system; Temperature
• ISSN: 0263-2241; 1873-412X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2018.03.006

•Experimental validation of the supervision system for the MAF sensor of an internal combustion engine.•Experimental comparison between two different types of adaptive observers.•The experimental implementation of the FDI system allows the continuous operation the IC engine even in fault presence. In this work, we present the design of a fault detection and isolation (FDI) system for the mass air flow (MAF) sensor of an internal combustion (IC) engine based on adaptive observers, which in turn are based on a couple of ordinary differential equations which express the dynamics of the intake temperature and the pressure. Specifically, the observers were designed to estimate the MAF value that enters into the system in order to generate analytical redundancy, i.e. to have two signals of the same variable, one provided by the observers and the other one provided by the sensor. The FDI system allows the uninterrupted operation of the IC engine, after a total failure of the MAF sensor, by switching the faulty signal to the healthy value given by the observers. This healthy value is injected to the engine control unit (ECU). Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed system.