The paper presents the possible applications of using acoustic diagnostics in inspecting the technical condition of an internal combustion engine with autoignition on the example of the Fiat drive unit with common rail system. As a result of measuring the sound pressure level for specific faults and comparing the noise generated by the motor running smoothly, the detailed maps of changes in the acoustic spectrum are possible to generate. These results may be helpful in the future diagnostics of internal combustion engines. In the paper, the results of scientific work in the area of research, design and operation of internal combustion engines, conducted at the Department of Automotive Engineering, in cooperation with the Laboratory of Hydraulic Drives & Vibroacoustics of Machines at the Wroclaw University of Technology are included.

Acoustic signal is more and more frequently used to diagnose machines operated in industrial conditions where installation of sensors is hindered. Impact of background noise seems to be the major problem as part of analysis of such signal. In most cases of industrial environments, background level is high; thus, it prevents against concluding as per standard methods that have been used in diagnostic testing. This study specifies the problem related to diagnosing machines operated under variable loads. Synchronous methods are used for diagnosing these types of machines, those include synchronisation of diagnostic signal with revolutions of the diagnosed machine. For the purpose of this study an acoustic signal was used as the diagnostic signal. Application of the synchronous method (order analysis) enables eliminating an impact of background noise derived from other sources. This study specifies application of acoustic signal to diagnose planetary gear in laboratory testing rig in order to discover damages at early stage of degradation. This method was compared with the method basing on measurement of vibrations.

The paper is a continuation of the publication under the title “Acoustic diagnostics applications in the study of technical condition of combustion engine” and concerns the detailed description of decision support system for identifying technical condition (type of failure) of specified combustion engine. The input data were measured sound pressure levels of specific faults in comparison to the noise generated by undamaged motor. In the article, the whole procedure of decision method based on game graphs is described, as well as the interface of the program for direct usage.