You will find the figures mentioned in this article in the German issue of

MTZ 03|2006 beginning on page 190.

Piezo-Aktuatoren in Kfz-Einspritzventilen
– Modellierung und adaptive Verfahren zur
Dosierungsoptimierung

Piezo Actuators for Automotive

Injection Systems
Modeling and Adaptive Control for
Optimization of Fuel Proportioning
For best application of piezo actuators in motor vehicles new development tools and applications have
been developed at the Institute for Electronic Circuits and Measurement of the Ruhr-Universität
Bochum. An exact model of piezo actuators allows accurate simulation and optimization in the early de-
velopment phase for the entire injection system including electrical, mechanical and hydraulic equip-
ment. Using the piezo element simultaneously as both an actuator and a sensor, the compensation of
disturbances such as temperature, pressure variation and also wear-out is possible. Furthermore, con-
tinuous observation of the mechanical conditions within the injector is now made possible.

1 Introduction
Conventional solenoid valves in fuel-injection
systems are increasingly substituted by fast
switching piezo injectors. Their improved
switching characteristics provide more accu-
rate fuel proportioning and smaller injected
volumes. Besides the reduction of noise and
the decrease of fuel consumption pollutant
emissions are also diminished [1]. Compared
to solenoid valves, the particular benefits of
Authors:
Joachim Melbert, Carsten Raupach,
Qi Wang and Fabian Niestroj
piezo elements are up to six times shorter
elongation times and the feasibility of partial
elongation. These benefits are accompanied
by the drawbacks of reduced elongation mag-
nitude, temperature dependency and hystere-
sis affected behaviour. Mechanical and hy-
draulic servo-components are necessary in or-
der to increase effective elongation and to
compensate parasitic effects.
Piezo injectors were first introduced in
Diesel-Common-Rail Systems. Meanwhile
they are also applied in unit-injectors and
gasoline direct-injection systems. The change
from solenoid to piezo actuation requires a
redesign of the fuel-injection system and in-
volves the electronic controller as well as the
complete injector with mechanics, hy-
draulics and electromechanical converter,
Figure 1. Due to strong interaction at the inter-
faces it is mandatory during the develop-
ment phase to simulate the whole injection
system. Exact models of all components are
thus required.
Whereas proven simulation methods and
adequate models exist for electronics, me-
chanics and hydraulics, sufficient models for
high-power piezo actuators are not available
up to now [2]. Such models should describe
the non-linear features, the hysteresis and
the temperature characteristics. Simulation
of the injection system including all ele-
ments in an early phase of development en-
hances the development process and can cut
expenses substantially. Measurements of dy-
namic processes in the range of micrometers
inside the injector are impossible or deterio-
rate the injection process which makes a
simulation of injection systems particularly
relevant [3].
Although the internal injector effects are
known very well, stabilization of fuel propor-
tioning with respect to temperature, pressure
variation and wear-out can only be achieved
with high effort and limited quality. Open-
loop control strategies of the electrical charge
or energy can provide some compensation. A
first closed-loop control approach analyzes
the variation of engine speed during overrun
versus electrical piezo-drive. This method sta-
bilizes pilot injection [1].

16 MTZ 03/2006 Volume 67


A new method permits the observation of
the mechanical processes within the injector.
The piezo-voltage and the piezo-current are
evaluated in the electronic control unit, force
and elongation can be computed by means of
a detection model. The first applications are
adaptive idle-lift compensations without me-
chanical valve lash compensating elements
and a stabilization of elongations down to 1
µm resolution over the whole range of tem-
perature and load.
2 Characterization and Modelling
of High-power Piezo Elements
2.1 Structure of Piezo Elements Used
in Injectors
Current piezo elements for automotive appli-
cations consist of a stack of thin piezo-ceram-
ic layers (lead-titanate-zirconate, PZT) with in-
ternal silver-palladium (AgPd) or copper (Cu)
contacts. This construction corresponds to a
mechanical serial connection of the layers
whereas they represent an electrical parallel
connection. By this means the required elon-
gation is achieved at reduced voltage. Figure 2
shows the structure of such an element.
Piezo actuators with this inner structure
may only be exposed to compression stress. In
order to avoid tensile stress during fast con-
tractions the stack is pre-loaded by a Bourdon
tube. The piezo actuator expands in the
shown direction for a positive voltage at the
electrodes. Due to their limited elongation
maximum of about 0.1 % of total length cur-
rent injectors include mechanical and hy-
draulic transformation elements for elonga-
tion extension, as well as hydraulic servo sys-
tems, valve lash elements and pressure ampli-
fiers. The model must be able to reproduce
the highly dynamic forces and transitions
within such actuators. Solely static character-
izations and frequently used linear models
are insufficient for such purpose.
2.2 Measuring Setup for a Dynamic
Characterization of Piezo Elements
A computer controlled measuring setup per-
forms the automated characterization of
piezo elements with diverse geometries. The
dynamics within injection systems for both
force and elongation and different electrical
driving conditions can be generated by the sys-
tem. Therefore, the analyzed element is me-
chanically loaded by a second piezo actuator.
In addition, static forces of up to 3000 N can be
superimposed. The time consuming analysis
over a temperature range of -40 °C to 150 °C
fully automatized in order to obtain high re-
peatability. The measuring setup permits the
synchronous recordings of voltage, current,
force and elongation of the device under test.
Injection
Figure 3 shows the realized measuring set-
up with the electronic power driving and the
signal conditioning. The test fixture with the
two piezo elements and a force sensor is locat-
ed in the temperature chamber to the right.
A differential laser interferometer allows the
observation of elongation through curved
multiple glass panes from outside.
Due to non-linear behaviour the small-sig-
nal characteristics of the piezo element are
analyzed at all possible operation points. In
the electrical domain open and short circuits
can easily be realized electronically for differ-
ent static bias voltages, further the mechani-
cal no-load operation and the static mechani-
cal load. An electrical impulse signal or a
staircase function is applied to analyze the
natural oscillation and creep behaviour.
3 Simulation Model for High Performance
Piezo Elements
The large-signal behaviour of piezo actuators
is highly non-linear and is affected by hystere-
sis. Furthermore, it shows a substantial tem-
perature drift with additional creep. The new
model describes all these characteristics and
allows the simulation of transient processes
with different electrical excitations, tempera-
tures and mechanical loads.
3.1 Structure and Quality of the Model
The piezo actuator is a converter between the
electrical parameters of voltage and current
and the mechanical parameters of force and
elongation. The simplified dual-port model
in Figure 4 comprises four mutual independ-
ent transmission systems. The exact structure
is described in [2].
Mechanically the piezo actuator repre-
sents a distributed spring-mass system with
damping, where the force is defined as me-
chanical input and the elongation is defined
as mechanical output. Electrically it acts as a
non-linear capacitor with hysteresis between
charge and voltage. Due to the capacitive be-
haviour, the current is used as input and the
voltage is used as output. The coupling sys-
tems incorporate the non-linear transfer be-
haviour.
For the characterization each transfer
function of the four subsystems six test se-
quences can be applied. The respective con-
stant parameter is varied stepwise over the
operating range. A comparison of simulation
and measurement based on dependencies
which were not utilized for the parameter ex-
traction, provides a significant benchmark of
model integrity. The quality of the model is
demonstrated in Figure 5 for a few cases. The
upper panel shows the elongation and volt-
age for a pulse shaped excitation of 150 µs
RESEARCH
width. The mechanical resonance of the ele-
ment is not stimulated significantly yet. By re-
ducing the pulse width to less than 25 µs, the
natural resonance response is obtained for
the unloaded element. The last diagram de-
picts the charge-to-voltage hysteresis in the
dynamic case for a circulation time of 300 µs.
All results are given for room temperature
and yield a deviation between simulation and
measurement in the range of less than 1 %.
3.2 Hysteresis
Another beneficial feature of piezo elements
compared to solenoid valves is the feasibility
of partial elongations. For this operating con-
dition, information about the hysteresis be-
haviour and its dependency on the electrical
driving impedance and mechanical load is
important.
The influence of hysteresis at a variable
force can be derived from the simplified
structure of the model in Figure 4. With no
change of the internal charge state of the
piezo element, there is no change of the ini-
tial state of the second transfer system and
only the remaining hysteresis-free paths are
effective. The function of voltage respectively
elongation versus force is depicted in the left
part of Figure 6 for the case of high-imped-
ance electrical termination. The graphs of uP
= f (FP) and xP = f (FP) exhibit no hysteresis. For
finite electrical impedance a current can
flow and hysteresis occurs. Similar effects re-
sult from electrical stimulation. The first two
quadrants reflect the well known charge-
voltage hysteresis. For charge control the
elongation xP shows no hysteresis, voltage
control, however, results in hysteresis. In the
model all these modes are taken into ac-
count. So-called mixed conditions are also
considered, i. e. arbitrary non-linear and
time-variant source impedances resulting
from switch-mode output stages and all
kinds of mechanical loads within the de-
fined limitations.
3.3 Thermal Model
Operation of injectors close to the engine re-
sults in high thermal cycling stress, which in-
fluences the piezo characteristics and which
is also described by the model. In addition to
the ambient temperature self-heating by in-
ternal losses is included. Figure 7 shows the
temperature dependency of the elongation in
the range of -25 °C up to 125 °C for constant
electrical stimulation. Again measured and
simulated elongations are compared. The
temperature dependencies of the further pa-
rameters are described with similar quality.
The model includes both thermal resistances
and capacitances for the transfer characteris-
tic.
MTZ 03/2006 Volume 67 17
RESEARCH
The knowledge of the temperature de-
pendency of the qP/uP relation can be utilized
for sensorless temperature observation inside
the piezo-ceramic. Measurements have
shown that the piezo element heats up by 40
°C at typical input pulses of 120 V and 60 Hz.
The sensorless temperature observation can
be used for stabilization of the elongation
with respect to temperature variation.
4 Application of the Model for Optimized
Driving Systems
Increasing legislation emissions limits re-
quire a higher stability of fuel proportioning.
It is subject to various affecting parameters
such as temperature, wear-out and produc-
tion tolerances and should not vary over life-
time for a given electrical excitation and fuel
pressure [4].
On the one hand electrical control meth-
ods with or without feedback are applied and
on the other hand constructive measures are
taken in the mechanical domain, e. g. materi-
als with defined thermal expansion. Direct
measurement of the current fuel quantity in-
side the injector considering technical and
commercial aspects is not foreseeable so far.
Thus, for control systems without feedback
injected quantities vary on principal with re-
spect to disturbances.
Figure 8 shows the resulting variations of
the piezo elongation as a function of temper-
ature and mechanical load of the piezo actu-
ator. For the left part a control strategy with
constant charge is assumed and constant en-
ergy for the right part – a common method
in current automobiles. Obvious variations of
elongation can be found which particularly
disturb minimum fuel injection.
A first approach of a closed-loop control
covers the variations of the camshaft speed in
the overrun condition against sliding electri-
cal piezo excitation [4]. This loop is rather
complex and is sensitive against parameter
variations and sensor jitter. It does not allow
direct observation of the inner injector condi-
tion.
For this reason two different control
methods have been developed, which are en-
tirely based on the analysis of the electrical
signal on the piezo actuator in the control
unit: The first control method, Figure 9, stabi-
lizes the piezo elongation against various dis-
turbances. It gets independent of tempera-
ture variation and self-heating together with
variations of the mechanical load. Besides sta-
bilization of a constant elongation also a giv-
en elongation dependency can be adjusted.
The fed charge and the resulting voltage of
the piezo actuator can be measured inside
the control unit. There is no influence from
18 MTZ 03/2006 Volume 67
Injection
the kind of power stage, they can operate in
switch mode or resonance transfer mode. By
means of the qP/uP relation described above
the temperature of the piezo element can be
determined. Based on the charge-elongation
ratio the charge of the piezo actuator can be
adjusted. An adaptive controller consequent-
ly eliminates the influence of temperature on
elongation. Figure 9 features the remaining
elongation error at simultaneous tempera-
ture and load variations caused by pressure
variation. Compared to the energy control
with an elongation variation of about 25 %
the influence is reduced by less than 1.5 %.
5 Sensor Behaviour of Piezo Actuators
A new detection model is applied for the real-
ization of an adaptive control schema. It was
derived from the piezo actuator model de-
scribed above. The detection model uses the
electrical input signals current and voltage of
the motor control unit and calculates me-
chanical elongation and force in real-time [5].
This permits the observation of the internal
dynamic injector conditions online without
additional sensor. Relevant transition points
of the injection process can be derived. Idle-
lift or opening instants of the servo-valve can
be detected together with the pressure behav-
iour inside the injector.
5.1 Detection Model and Quality
Figure 10 shows the principal operation of the
detection model together with the signal
waveforms: the electrical control signals u, i
(top) and the measured and recalculated me-
chanical signals elongation and force (bot-
tom).
5.2 Adaptive Control Strategy
Continuous observation of the mechanical
signals inside the injector allows an adapta-
tion of the piezo drive. Using a control strate-
gy idle-lift can be minimized and tolerances,
wear-out, noise and temperature influences
will be compensated. Hydraulic back lash ele-
ments and expensive materials for tempera-
ture compensation can be avoided. It is possi-
ble to derive the start and the end of the injec-
tion from the force variation at the servo
valve.
Figure 11 shows the detection of idle-lift for
two operating conditions. The quasi-static
mode appears during injection pauses and
detects the variation of the force gradient. For
this procedure a quasi-constant current is ap-
plied onto the actuator. Idle-lift variations for
different fuel pressure levels due to the finite
mechanical stiffness of the injector can also
be seen. The detection method is also possible
during the regular injection process, Figure
11 right. At present the idle-lift of each injec-
tor must be measured and adjusted during
production. Temperature effects and wear-
out over lifetime must be kept within low
limits. Using the adaptive control strategy,
idle-lift can be eliminated under all operating
conditions.
The new adaptive strategy applies a con-
ventional pulse mode power stage with low
energy pulses up to a given idle-lift. An AD-
converter samples current and voltage of the
piezo actuator as an input for the detection
model which calculates the resulting force.
The end of idle-lift is reached for the required
forward force. After idle-lift compensation
and some delay, which results from worst-
case idle-lift, the regular injection process
with high energy pulses takes place. A resolu-
tion of force in the range of 50 N is obtained
which allows for a detection of idle-lift with a
resolution of less than 1 µm.
6 Conclusion
A new model for high-power piezo elements
enables a closed-loop simulation of the com-
plete injection system. It covers the full auto-
motive temperature range and considers all
kinds of pulsed electrical stimulations and
variable mechanical loads. Two methods for
the optimization of injection with piezo actu-
ators improve the performance of fuel pro-
portion and eliminate the impact of distur-
bances. Using the control method, the elon-
gation of the piezo actuator is almost inde-
pendent of temperature influences and me-
chanical load variations. The detection mod-
el for piezo actuators generates information
about the mechanical load. Zero idle-lift can
be controlled and back lash elements avoid-
ed. With little extra hardware and software
expense both methods can be implemented
in state-of-the-art microcontrollers.
References
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Pkw-Common-Rail-Systeme für künftige Emissions-
anforderungen. In MTZ 66 (2005), Nr. 7-8, S. 552-557
[2] Wang, Q.; Raupach, C.; Melbert, J.: Charakterisierung
und Modellierung von Hochleistungs-Piezoaktuatoren
für Kfz-Einspritzsysteme. Haus der Technik, Fachbuch
Band 45, Berlin 2005, Expert-Verlag, ISBN 3-8169-
2491-3
[3] Wüst, H.; Sassen, K. P.: System Engineering für innova-
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1907, Baden-Baden, Elektronik im Kraftfahrzeug, Okt.
2005
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