Design and Evaluation of a Structural Analysis-Based Fault Detection and Identification Scheme for a Hydraulic Torque Converter

A hydraulic torque converter (HTC) is a key component in an automatic transmission. To monitor its operating status and to detect and locate faults, and considering the high-efficiency fault detection and identification (FDI) scheme design by the methodology of structural analysis (SA), this paper presents an SA-based FDI system design and validation for the HTC. By the technique of fault mode and effect analysis (FMEA), eight critical faults are obtained, and then two fault variables are chosen to delegate them. Fault detectability and isolability, coupled with different sensor placements, are analyzed, and as a result, two speed sensors and two torque sensors of pump and turbine are selected to realize the maximal fault detectability and fault isolability: all six faults are detectable, four faults are uniquely isolable, and two faults are isolated from the other faults, but not from each other. Then five minimal structurally overdetermined (MSO) sets are easily acquired by SA to generate five corresponding residuals. The proposed FDI scheme of the HTC by SA is first validated by a theoretical model, then by an offline experiment in a commercial SUV, and the testing results indicate a consistent conclusion with the simulations and theory analysis.