ESTIMATION OF THE INSTANTANEOUS ENGINE TORQUE FOR VEHICLES WITH DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL (DMF)

Today, in many passenger cars and light trucks, the conventional driveline is extended by a dual mass flywheel (DMF). The DMF reduces driveline oscillations by mechanically decoupling the crankshaft and the transmission. Existing engine control systems are designed for conventional single mass flywheel (SMF) systems. In the future, to facilitate the optimal control of engines equipped with advanced DMF systems, such conventional control systems may require adaptation, modification or even replacement. In this approach, a method for estimating the instantaneous engine torque of vehicles with conventional combustion engines and dual mass flywheel is introduced. The reconstructed engine torque can be used advantageously for advanced controller designs (e.g. cylinder balancing, misfire detection, anti-jerk control, etc.) as well as for analysing the current state of the combustion engine regarding injection time and quantity, combustion quality, incylinder pressure, etc.