Method for controlling an internal combustion engine having an exhaust system component including a self-healing ceramic material

A method for controlling an internal combustion engine having an exhaust system component and a combustion chamber, wherein the exhaust system component comprises a self-healing ceramic material, and an electric heater for heating the self-healing ceramic material, the method comprises:

• determining a change in an electrical conductivity of the self-healing ceramic material;
• determining a cracking of the self-healing ceramic material based on the change in the electrical conductivity of the self-healing ceramic material;
• and
• heating the self-healing ceramic material by the electric heater in response to combustion not being performed in the combustion chamber to put the self-healing ceramic material in a high-temperature oxidizing condition;
• wherein the self-healing ceramic material comprises fine particles and the fine particles are oxidized under the high-temperature oxidizing condition so as to fill a crack in the self-healing ceramic material,
• wherein electric current flow or gas diffusion takes place through the self-healing ceramic material,
• wherein the exhaust system component is an electrically heated catalyst having the following configuration:
• (a) an electrically conductive catalyst-supporting substrate having a binding material composed of the self-healing ceramic material and electrically conductive particles bound to each other by the binding material, and
• (b) the electric heater that is an electrode put into contact with the electrically conductive catalyst-supporting substrate to flow an electric current to the electrically conductive catalyst-supporting substrate, and
• wherein the self-healing ceramic material has a ceramic matrix, and fine metal or semimetal carbide particles having a particle diameter of 1 um or less and being dispersed in the ceramic material, and
• wherein the electrically conductive particles have a particle diameter of 5 um or more.