CONTROL METHOD AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

An internal combustion engine (1) includes: an exhaust gas recirculation unit equipped with an exhaust gas recirculation control valve (9); a crank angle sensor (11) that detects an indicated mean effective pressure fluctuation rate (cPi) as an indicator of combustion stability of the internal combustion engine (1); and a controller (10) that corrects the EGR rate of the exhaust gas recirculation unit based on the combustion stability. The controller (10) is configured to: increase-correct the EGR rate by a predetermined amount when the state where the indicated mean effective pressure fluctuation rate (cPi) is lower than a threshold value continues for a predetermined number of cycles; and decrease-correct the EGR rate by a predetermined amount immediately when the indicated mean effective pressure fluctuation rate (cPi) is higher than or equal to the threshold value.