Abstract
A combined methodology is presented that has as objective to determine in a non-intrusive way the global state of reciprocating internal combustion engines by checking their main systems.
The methodology consists of the accomplishment of a set of rapid trials, simple and no intrusive, whose results are processed to obtain relevant information on the state of the motor. The maximum potential is reached when the methodology is integrated in an inspection cycle, thus registering and controlling periodically the evolution of the representative parameters of the functional state of the engine.
The trials include a combination of well known techniques, such as the measure of engine power by a free acceleration method, with other less known techniques that have been developed and tuned-up by the authors, such the relative contribution of the combustion in each cylinder to engine power by the analysis of the instantaneous engine rotational speed.
A portable equipment that agglutinate all these measurement techniques has been developed and adapted to the use in vehicle repair environments. The equipment incorporates also the analysis techniques in order to provide the diagnostic results. Some examples of the methodology performance are provided for railway diesel engines.