The use of hardness testing to assess the technical condition of common rail fuel lines

Abstract

High pressure fuel lines are one of the most important components of the fuel supply systems of internal combustion engines. The development in Russia of its own production and maintenance system for engines with fuel equipment such as Common Rail is still taking place in conditions of insufficient regulatory and technical base. To date, only one technical specification has been developed for the supply of rolled products and GOST, which is, in fact, an authentic translation of the ISO international standard that regulates the technical requirements for seamless steel pipes. There are no standardized requirements directly on products, including methods for their testing and diagnostics. At the same time, the high pressure fuel lines of Common Rail systems have significant differences from their predecessors - the fuel lines of mechanical systems. However, the methodological foundations for assessing the technical condition and durability of Common Rail components have not yet been developed. At the same time, there is a great scientific and technical reserve in the field of research of pipelines of the fuel and energy complex, including oil and gas transportation systems. Numerous standards, developed, for example, at PJSC GAZPROM, and regulating important issues of design, diagnostics, and assessment of the technical condition of oil and gas pipelines, are quite effective. It seems logical and reasonable to use, with appropriate modification and refinement, the experience of specialists in this field to create a regulatory framework for high pressure fuel pipelines of Common Rail systems. A prerequisite for the diagnosis of common rail fuel lines in operation is to maintain the integrity of the fuel lines, i.e. non-destructive testing. Taking into account the availability of technical equipment, the most effective control method should be hardness testing. An attempt is made to review the well-known works on the use of hardness measurement for studying pipelines of the fuel and energy complex with an assessment of their possible application for common rail pipelines.