Control device for internal combustion engine

A control device for an internal combustion engine that includes:

• an ignition device arranged in a vicinity of a center of an upper part of a combustion chamber, and includes a spark plug for igniting an air-fuel mixture in a cylinder using a discharge spark;
• an injector arranged nearer to an intake valve than the spark plug in the vicinity of the center of the upper part of the combustion chamber, and includes one or more injection holes provided such that a contour surface of a fuel spray injected from the one or more injection holes toward the spark plug passes under an electrode portion of the spark plug;
• an in-cylinder pressure sensor configured to detect in-cylinder pressure;
• and
• an exhaust gas purification catalyst configured to purify exhaust gas from the combustion chamber,
• wherein a tumble flow that flows so as to go toward a side of an exhaust valve from a side of the intake valve in the upper part of the combustion chamber is generated in the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine,
• wherein the control device comprises:
• a tumble flow control section programmed to control a predetermined actuator such that a flow velocity of the tumble flow changes;
• a combustion control section programmed, in order to activate the exhaust gas purification catalyst, to control the injector so as to perform first fuel injection at a timing advanced from a compression top dead center, control the ignition device so as to generate the discharge spark in a predetermined period that is located in an expansion stroke, and control the injector so as to perform second fuel injection at a timing retarded from the compression top dead center, the second fuel injection being performed such that an injection period overlaps with at least a part of the predetermined period and an end timing of the injection period is advanced from an end timing of the predetermined period;
• and
• a parameter calculation section programmed, based on output values of the in-cylinder pressure sensor, to calculate a first index value representing a speed of initial combustion accompanying an ignition by the ignition device controlled by the combustion control section and a second index value representing a speed of main combustion accompanying the ignition, and
• wherein the tumble flow control section is programmed to execute at least one of a tumble ratio decrease control and a tumble ratio increase control, the tumble ratio decrease control decreasing an actual tumble ratio by decreasing the flow velocity of the tumble flow when the first index value indicates that the speed of the initial combustion is lower than a first threshold value and the second index value indicates that the speed of the main combustion is a second threshold value or more, the tumble ratio increase control increasing the actual tumble ratio by increasing the flow velocity of the tumble flow when the first index value indicates that the speed of the initial combustion is lower than the first threshold value and the second index value indicates that the speed of the main combustion is lower than the second threshold value.