Method and device for detecting autoignitions on the basis of measured and estimated internal cylinder pressure values of an internal combustion engine

1. A method for detecting and responding to autoignition in a spark-ignited internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder which, together with a piston connected to a crankshaft, bounds a combustion chamber, a combustion chamber pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in the combustion chamber, a crankshaft angle sensor which supplies a signal which represents a crankshaft angle, and a control device for performing open-loop and/or closed-loop control of the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:

during a compression stroke of the internal combustion engine, acquiring values for the combustion chamber pressure at defined crankshaft angles within an evaluation window,

determining filtered pressure values from the acquired values for the combustion chamber pressure,

determining, for the defined crankshaft angles, theoretical pressure values in the combustion chamber that would occur if no combustion were to take place in the combustion chamber based at least in part on geometric variables of the internal combustion engine including at least one of a cubic capacity and a compression ratio,

determining a value of a filtered pressure gradient between filtered pressure values for two defined crankshaft angles,

determining a value of a theoretical pressure gradient between theoretical pressure values for two defined crankshaft angles,

determining a difference between the value of the filtered pressure gradient and the value of the theoretical pressure gradient,

comparing the determined difference with a predefined threshold value,

identifying an autoignition in the combustion chamber in response to determining that the difference exceeds the predefined threshold value; and

initiating a measure that results in a temperature decrease in the combustion chamber if an autoignition is identified, wherein the measure comprises one or more of the following:

setting a rich air/fuel mixture,

closing a throttle valve of the internal combustion engine,

shutting off a fuel supply, or

opening a wastegate of an exhaust gas turbocharger of the internal combustion engine.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising filtering the acquired values for the combustion chamber pressure by forming sliding mean values.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising calculating the theoretical pressure values using a thermodynamic model based on at least one of: the crankshaft angle, a coolant temperature, an engine oil temperature, and a pressure value in an intake manifold of the internal combustion engine.

4. The method of claim 3 , comprising storing the theoretical pressure values in a memory of the control device in the form of characteristic diagrams.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

increasing a counter reading of a counter in the control device for each determination that the difference exceeds the threshold value,

identifying the autoignition in the combustion chamber upon the counter reading reaching a predefined counter threshold value; and

initiating the measure if the counter reading exceeds a threshold counter value.

6. The method of claim 5 , comprising increasing the counter reading by a greater amount in response to a determination that the difference that exceeds the threshold value if the crankshaft angle value of the autoignition is earlier than or equal to a predefined threshold angle.

7. A device for detecting and responding to autoignition in a spark-ignited internal combustion engine, having at least one cylinder which, together with a piston connected to a crankshaft, bounds a combustion chamber, a combustion chamber pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in the combustion chamber, a crankshaft angle sensor which supplies a signal which represents a crankshaft angle, and a control device for performing open-loop and/or closed-loop control of the internal combustion engine,

wherein the device is configured to:

during a compression stroke of the internal combustion engine, acquire values for the combustion chamber pressure at defined crankshaft angles within an evaluation window,

determine filtered pressure values from the acquired values for the combustion chamber pressure,

determine, for the defined crankshaft angles, theoretical pressure values in the combustion chamber that would occur if no combustion were to take place in the combustion chamber based at least in part on geometric variables of the internal combustion engine including at least one of a cubic capacity and a compression ratio,

determine a value of a filtered pressure gradient between filtered pressure values for two defined crankshaft angles,

determine a value of a theoretical pressure gradient between theoretical pressure values for two defined crankshaft angles,

determine a difference between the value of the filtered pressure gradient and the value of the theoretical pressure gradient,

compare the determined difference with a predefined threshold value, and

identify an autoignition in the combustion chamber in response to determining that the difference exceeds the predefined threshold value; and

initiate a measure that results in a temperature decrease in the combustion chamber if an autoignition is identified, wherein the measure comprises one or more of the following:

setting a rich air/fuel mixture,

closing a throttle valve of the internal combustion engine,

shutting off a fuel supply, or

opening a wastegate of an exhaust gas turbocharger of the internal combustion engine.

8. The device of claim 7 , further configured to filter the acquired values for the combustion chamber pressure by forming sliding mean values.

9. The device of claim 7 , further configured to calculate the theoretical pressure values using a thermodynamic model based on at least one of: the crankshaft angle, a coolant temperature, an engine oil temperature, and a pressure value in an intake manifold of the internal combustion engine.

10. The device of claim 9 , further configured to store the theoretical pressure values in a memory of the control device in the form of characteristic diagrams.

11. The device of claim 7 , further configured to:

increase a counter reading of a counter in the control device for each determination that the difference exceeds the threshold value,

identify the autoignition in the combustion chamber upon the counter reading reaching a predefined counter threshold value; and

initiate the measure if the counter reading exceeds a threshold counter value.

12. The device of claim 11 , further configured to increase the counter reading by a greater amount in response to a determination that the difference that exceeds the threshold value if the crankshaft angle value of the autoignition is earlier than or equal to a predefined threshold angle.

13. A spark-ignited internal combustion engine, comprising:

at least one cylinder which, together with a piston connected to a crankshaft, bounds a combustion chamber, a combustion chamber pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in the combustion chamber,

a crankshaft angle sensor which supplies a signal which represents a crankshaft angle,

a control device for performing open-loop and/or closed-loop control of the internal combustion engine, and

a device configured to detect autoignition by a process including:

during a compression stroke of the internal combustion engine, acquiring values for the combustion chamber pressure at defined crankshaft angles within an evaluation window,

determining filtered pressure values from the acquired values for the combustion chamber pressure,

determining, for the defined crankshaft angles, theoretical pressure values in the combustion chamber that would occur if no combustion were to take place in the combustion chamber based at least in part on geometric variables of the internal combustion engine including at least one of a cubic capacity and a compression ratio,

determining a value of a filtered pressure gradient between filtered pressure values for two defined crankshaft angles,

determining a value of a theoretical pressure gradient between theoretical pressure values for two defined crankshaft angles,

determining a difference between the value of the filtered pressure gradient and the value of the theoretical pressure gradient,

comparing the determined difference with a predefined threshold value,

identifying an autoignition in the combustion chamber in response to determining that the difference exceeds the predefined threshold value; and

initiating a measure that results in a temperature decrease in the combustion chamber if an autoignition is identified, wherein the measure comprises one or more of the following:

setting a rich air/fuel mixture,

closing a throttle valve of the internal combustion engine,

shutting off a fuel supply, or

opening a wastegate of an exhaust gas turbocharger of the internal combustion engine.