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Motor vehicle emission testing during on-road driving is important to assess a vehicle’s exhaust emission control design, its compliance with Federal regulations and its impact on air quality. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been developing new approaches to screen the characteristics of vehicle dynamic emission control behaviors (its operating signature) while driving both on-road and on-dynamometer. The so-called “signature device” used for this testing is equipped with an O2/NOx sensor, thermocouple and GPS to record dynamic exhaust NOx concentration, air fuel ratio-controlled tailpipe lambda (λ), tailpipe temperature and vehicle speed (acceleration). In the early EPA research, signature screening was used to characterize a vehicle’s PCM control behaviors (cause/effect bijectivity), which help distinguish operation in normal control state-space and abnormal state-space.

To meet US EPA light-duty vehicle emission standards, the vehicle powertrain has to be optimally controlled in addition to maintaining very high catalyst system efficiency. If vehicles are operated outside the bounds of a standard laboratory exhaust emission test (e.g., on-road or off-cycle) the operating control strategy may shift to optimize other desirable parameters such as fuel economy and drivability. Under these circumstances. The engine control system could be operating in a different state space from an emission control stand point. This control state-space can be observed based on four principal parameters: NOx, Lambda and exhaust temperature (measured at the tailpipe) and vehicle acceleration. These vehicle emission control patterns can be characterized by their corresponding emission control signatures, such as cold start, transient fuel control, and high speed/high load open loop. These emission control signatures are unique to a variety of engine technologies as well.

Track Road Load Derivations (RLDs) and subsequent load matching on test cell dynamometers has traditionally been conducted using vehicle coastdowns (CDs). Vehicle speed changes during these coastdowns are used to calculate the vehicle mechanical drag forces slowing vehicles when on the road. Track drag force, exerted on a vehicle, can also be quantified by holding a vehicle at a specific steady state speed and measuring the forces required to maintain that speed. This paper focuses on two methods to quantify speed dependent forces which a vehicle must work against when motoring. One method is the traditional coastdown method. The second reference method measures vehicle steady state speed forces necessary to propel the vehicle using both electric vehicle propulsion power flows and dynamometer measured forces. Track CDs require the vehicle to be placed in neutral.

Modern light-duty vehicles require well-controlled engine-out feed-gas and very high catalyst efficiencies to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 2 & 3 standards. When a vehicle with either a gasoline or diesel engine is operating within its controlled state-space the exhaust emissions present at the tailpipe are extremely low. When it is not operating within its controlled state-space the combustion process and therefore its exhaust emissions characteristics will be different. This may occur when an emission control device fails or if a defeat device is employed. Moreover, different control technologies each have unique characteristics or signatures that could assist in identifying either emission control device failure or an existing defeat device.