Condition monitoring of engine timing system by using wavelet packet decomposition of a acoustic signal

A change in the technical condition of mechanical components of internal combustion engines may not be detected by on-board diagnostic systems installed in vehicles. In similar cases, measurements and analyses of vibroacoustic signals being recorded prove useful. Since there are certain limitations to vibration measurements, including those related to the vibration transmission and the engine's high temperature at measurement points, the authors of this paper have proposed that measurements and analyses of acoustic signals should be applied for the sake of assessment of the internal combustion engine technical condition. However, such an assessment requires new acoustic signal processing methods to be developed, and so this subject has been elaborated in the paper. The article provides a discussion on the option of applying a wavelet packet decomposition while filtering the internal combustion engine's acoustic signal in order to diagnose an excessive valve clearance. The authors prepared an algorithm enabling selection of the chosen details and approximation of the wavelet analysis to low-frequency components, which constitute the noise, as well as high-frequency components comprising information on the possible enlarged engine valve clearance. Next, based on the selected high-frequency acoustic signal components, a method for automatic detection of enlarged clearance valves was developed, assuming that energy participations of the acoustic signal being emitted were to be determined while opening and closing individual valves. Under the study discussed, identification tests were conducted using two 4-cylinder internal combustion engines featuring valves of different clearances to consequently confirm the efficiency of the algorithm developed for the acoustic signal filtration and automatic detection of enlarged clearance valves.