UNIT 6

Stability of Linear Control System

MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Lec17: Objectives

At the end of the lecture, I should be able to:

Define stability of a system
Make and interpret a basic Routh table to determine the stability of a
system
Make and interpret a Routh table where either the first element of a
row is zero or an entire row is zero

MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Critical Gain for Marginal
Stability
For system of third-order or higher, as the gain in the
forward path is increased the system will become
increasingly oscillatory and beyond a certain point will
become unstable (as you will find out later in the next
topic).
The Routh-Herwitz method can be used to find the
limiting values of gain which will lead to an unstable
system.

MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Example 25
Let us look at example 24 again and see if we can
determine what the limiting values are for K that will keep
the system stable.
R(s) + 1 C(s)
K s 3 4s 2 3s
_
1
s 1

And hence the characteristic

equation (C.E.) of s 5s 7s 3s K 0
4 3 2

MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Example 25

s 5s 7s 3s K 0
4 3 2

Step 1:
Write out the characteristic equation as a polynomial, for example:

a0 s n a1s n1 a2 s n2 a3 s n3 ...... 0 s 4 5s 3 7s 2 3s k 0
Step 2:
Examine the terms in the equation if any coefficients are zero (i.e.
they do not appear in the equation) or if any have a negative
coefficient, then the equation will have at least one positive (or zero)
root and the system is unstable. You need not to proceed any further.
OK if K > 0
MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Example 25
s 4 5s 3 7s 2 3s k 0
Step 3:
Arrange the coefficients in two rows and label them sn and sn-1 as
below. This is called Routh table. Each row in the Routh table is called
Routh array.
4
s n a0 a2 a4 a6 s 1 7 k
sn-1 a1 a3 a5 s3 5 3 0
Step 4:
Add extra rows one at a time in
the following way: s4 1 7 k
s n a0 a2 a4 a6
sn-1 a1 a3 a5 s3 5 3 0
sn-2 b1 b2 b3 3 1
2 7 6.4 0
where; s 5 k
a0 a3 aa aa
b1 a2 , b2 a4 0 5 , b3 a6 0 7
a1 a1 a1
MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Example 25
Step 4:
Add extra rows one at a time in
the following way: s4 1 7 k
s n a0 a2 a4 a6
sn-1 a1 a3 a5
s3 5 3 0
sn-2 b1 b2 b3 s2 6 .4 k 0
where;
a0 a3 aa aa k 5
b1 a2 , b2 a4 0 5 , b3 a6 0 7 3 0
a1 a1 a1 s 1 0
6.4
The next row will be:
sn a0 a2 a4
sn-1 a1 a3 a5 s0 k 0
sn-2 b1 b2 b3
sn-3 c1 c2
where:
a1b2 ab
c1 a3 , c2 a5 1 3
MCB3013/rmz/jan14
b1 b1
 Example 25

Step 5: 4
For stability: s 1 7 k
K > 0 and
3 (5k/6.4)>0 s3 5 3 0
s2 6 .4 k 0
k 5
3 0 k 5 0 0
6 .4 s1 3
3 6 .4 s 0 6 .4 0 0
k k
5
k 3.84

0 k 3.84
MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Routh-Hurwits Criterion: Special Case
1. Zero only in the first column
.

If the first element of a row is zero, division by zero would be required

to form the next row. To avoid this phenomenon, an epsilon, , is
assigned to replace the zero in the first column. The value is then
allowed to approach zero from either the positive or the negative side,
after which signs of the entries in the first column can be determined.

Example 26
Determine the stability of the closed-loop transfer function,

10
T ( s) 5
s 2s 3s 6s 5s 3
4 3 2

MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Routh-Hurwits Criterion: Special Case
1. Zero only in the first column
.

Form the Routh table following step s 5 2s 4 3s 3 6s 2 5s 3 0

1- 4.
Assembling the Routh table, zero 5
appears in first column (the s3 row).
s . 1 3 5
Replace the zero by a small
number, , and complete the table. s4 2 6 3

3 7
s 0 2 0
6 7
s2 3 0
1 42 49 6 2
s 0 0
12 14
0
s 3 0 0
MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Routh-Hurwits Criterion: Special Case
1. Zero only in the first column
.

To begin interpretation, we
Label 1st Column =+ =-
must first assume a sign, +ve
or -ve, for the quantity .
If is chosen positive: s 5
1
Sign change from row s3 to
row s2, and row s2 to row s1. s 4 2

hence system is unstable
and has 2 poles in right half- s 3 0
plane
6 7
If is chosen negative: s 2


Sign change from row s4 to
row s3, and row s3 to row s2. s 1 42 49 6 2
12 14

hence system is again
unstable and has 2 poles in
right half-plane
s 0
3
MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Routh-Hurwits Criterion: Special Case
2. Entire row is zero
.

Sometime while making a Routh table, we find that an entire row

consist of zeros because there is an even polynomial that is a factor
of the original polynomial. This case must be handled differently from
the case of a zero in only the first column of a row.

Example 27
Determine the number of right-half-plane poles in the closed-loop
transfer function,

10
T ( s) 5
s 7 s 4 6s 3 42s 2 8s 56

MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Routh-Hurwits Criterion: Special Case
2. Entire row is zero
.

Form the Routh table following s 5 7s 4 6s 3 42s 2 8s 56 0

step 1- 4.
At the second row we multiple
through by 1/7 for convenience. 5
We stop at the third row since s 1 6 8
71 6 8
the entire row consists of zeros
4
and use the following procedure: s 42 56
1. Return to the row immediately 3
above the row of zeros and form s 0 0 0
an auxiliary polynomial, using
the entries in that row as s2
coefficients. The polynomial will
start with the power of s in the 1
label column and continue by s
skipping every other power of s. 0
s
P(s) = s 4 6s 2 8
MCB3013/rmz/jan14
 Routh-Hurwits Criterion: Special Case
2. Entire row is zero
.

P(s) =
s 6s 8
4 2 s 5 7s 4 6s 3 42s 2 8s 56 0
2. Next differentiate the
5
polynomial with respect to s. s 1 6 8
dP( s)
4s 3 12s 0
ds s4 71 42 6 56 8
3
3. Use the differentiated
polynomial coefficients to replace
s 04 1 012 3 00 0
the row of zeros. For convenience, 2
the third row is multiplied by s 3 8 0
after replacing the zeros.
1 1
4. The remainder of the table is s 0 0
formed by previous steps. 3
s0 8 0 0
Hence, there are no right half-
plane poles.
MCB3013/rmz/jan14