A novel sensor monitoring corrosion effects of lubrication oil in an integrating manner

Recently a number of sensor principles for the online monitoring or lubrication oil in combustion engines have been investigated, where the utilized sensors aim at determining physical and chemical properties of the oil, which can be used as indicators for the deterioration of the oil. A crucial property of lubrication oil is its corrosiveness as it directly relates to the corrosive wear of engine parts. More than a decade ago, Japanese researchers proposed the utilization of resistive sensors, which would directly detect the corrosion of metallic parts. In our work, we investigate sensors utilizing the decomposition of metaflic thin films in oil and relate their output to the oil's corrosive properties as characterized in a laboratory analysis (in particular its acidity and sulfur content). We report on the fabrication and testing of sensor prototypes employing copper thin films using oil samples from artificial aging tests in the laboratory.