Motion Planning Control of the Airpath of an S.i. Engine with Valve Timing Actuators

We address the control of the airpath of a turbocharged S.I. engine equipped with Variable Valve Timing actuators (VVT). Compared to standard configurations, the engine does not possess any external EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) loop. Rather, VVT are used to produce internal EGR, providing similar beneficial effects in terms of emissions reduction. The airpath dynamics takes the form of a single mono-dimensional air balance in the intake manifold. In this equation, the VVT act as a disturbance by impacting on the air mass flow through the inlet valves. This impact can be estimated from real-time measurements. We use this information in a motion planning based control strategy by, successively, turning the driver’s torque demand into a trajectory generation problem for the air mass contained in the intake manifold, and then deriving an intake manifold pressure trajectory. Supportive simulation results show the relevance of this approach and suggest ways of further improvements.