Engine Fuel Injector Characterization with LabVIEW
Summary
DMC was approached by an engine design and development company to develop a method of characterizing Fuel Injectors for Research and Product Development. A critical part of fuel injector performance is accurate timing of the control signals for opening and closing the fuel delivery valve. In this case, injectors are characterized for optimal control timing. Characterization for Research and Development is performed on a lab benchtop, and ultimately this technique would be required in full production. Phase One of the characterization was to migrate current controls from disparate benchtop instruments to a singular control and data acquisition system, capable of measuring and viewing critical parameters. These integrated tools became the basis for a fully automated characterization system. Initially, BRP did not have the resources to perform this internally, leading them to DMC consultants for help.
Customer Benefits
- Shorter product development time
- More efficient and more accurate testing systems
- More effective design decisions due to identification of Critical Parameters and Specifications
- Better product chararacterization with automatic test routines coupled with manual diagnostic tools
- Testbed can be leveraged for future products
- Improved end product quality, as variations are caught more throroughly and information is stored for matching with other components
- Reduced manufacturing cycle time, as algorithms for characterization run more quickly than previous methods
Technologies
- NI LabVIEW for Signal Processing
- Custom Engine Control Module (ECU) Communications
- High Speed Data Acquisition (using NI PCI, PXI, and USB DAQ modules)
- TDMS Binary Data Storage for high speed streaming
Solution
Client was looking to leverage a fuel injector design into a new application. This particular application had a higher technical demand than previous products because of an increased RPM and engine capacity. Client’s technical requirement necessitated that each injector be characterized to ensure performance and product throughout.
DMC’s solution included data collection, manual control interfaces, and data processing. A solution was customized first in a proof of concept for the characterization using PC-based LabVIEW and DAQ. This was expanded to a higher volume laboratory to test robustness. An advanced data viewer was then used to mine data for statistical evaluation of injector performance. These LabVIEW data processing tools are best in class; the National Instruments hardware platform allows for scalability without changes in programming.
With the help of DMC, Client now has a robust fuel injector laboratory test platform. This platform is being used by their team of technicians to evaluate current and emerging fuel injectors products at a level of accuracy and speed that far exceeds previous testing. Ultimately it enables better engineering and management decisions for product development and product life cycle planning.
Since working with DMC, Client has scaled the solution to five laboratory implementations, and they now have the ability to build these up completely on their own. This has allowed them to evaluate three new product designs. Phase two has begun with implementing this strategy into their manufacturing testing, and based on these results a 40% improvement of throughput and quality is expected.
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