Case Study: Shanghai Diesel Engine Co. (SDEC) achieves 90% improved soot-model calibration and cuts DPF calibration time from weeks to hours with MathWorks

SDEC Automates Calibration of Diesel Particulate Filter Soot Load Models

Shanghai Diesel Engine faced the challenge of calibrating diesel particulate filter (DPF) soot-load models to meet stricter emissions standards while handling large transient on-road datasets. Manual tuning of dozens of lookup tables was slow, inconsistent, and risked fuel‑economy penalties from over- or underestimating soot. To solve this, Shanghai Diesel Engine partnered with MathWorks and used MATLAB, Simulink, and the Model‑Based Calibration Toolbox.

MathWorks engineers helped develop MATLAB data‑cleaning scripts, a Simulink soot‑load model, and automated calibration workflows using Model‑Based Calibration Toolbox with Parallel Computing Toolbox for faster optimizations. The MathWorks solution improved calibration accuracy by 90% (reducing error to below 0.1 g/L), delivered consistent results even with less experienced engineers, cut calibration time from weeks to hours, and produced lookup tables now deployed in production ECUs.

Shanghai Diesel Engine

Xiujuan Xia

Senior Engineer