Lecture 7: Poles, system

performance and system stability

Zeros: All the values of s for which n(s) = 0
G s
n s
d s
b s b s b s b
a s a s a s a
m
m
m
m
n
n
n
n
( )
( )
( )
= =
+ + + +
+ + + +

1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
0

Poles: All the values of s for which d(s) = 0

When the system G(s) has more than one pole or one zero at the
same co-ordinates on the s-plane, we say that G(s) has multiple
poles or multiple zeros.






0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0
0.5
1
s
1
s
2
s
3
s
4
First
Order
System
Time
30 40
0
0.2
0.4
Real Axis
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
-1
-0.5

4
Step Response
Pole-zero map
System




0
1
2
p
1


R

-
n

-
n
1-
2

n
1-
2

C

O

Second Order
System
Real Axis
Pole-zero map
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
-2
-1
-
n
1-
p
2

Second Order Systems:
For 0 < < 1,
G s
s s
n
n n
( ) =
+ +

2
2 2
2

Pole-zero map
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
Lines of constant
damping ratio,
Semicircles
of constant

( )
( )
2
1
2
1
1
n n
p j
p j


= +
=
The angle OCP
1
is tan = ? and R
2
=
n
2
Therefore all poles with constant value for
n-
will lie on a semi-circle,
radius R(=
n
) from the origin.
For different values of , we find a number of straight lines making
different angles with the real axis. We can then easily establish a
relationship between the location of poles and and
n
. This is shown
here.
Real Axis
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1
-5
-4

n

( )
2
2
1
n n
p j =
Step response performance measures
overshoot
rise time
peak time
settling time
Step response
Complex conjugate poles,
underdamped system:
( )
2
1
( ) 1 sin 1 ( )
n
t
n
y t K e t t

| |
= +
|
|
1
2
1
1
tan

| |

= |
|
2
2
1
( ) ( ) ( )
1 2
1
n n
K
Y s G s U s
s
s s

= =
+ +
( )
2
( ) 1 sin 1 ( )
1
n
n
y t K e t t

= +
|
|

\
1 tan

= |
|
\
Amplitude (steady-state value): K
Rise time: from the equation above find the smallest t such that y(t)=K
(a numerical solution is required)
90% Rise time: from the equation above find the smallest t such that
y(t)=0.9K (also suitable for overdamped systems, a numerical
solution is required)
Peak time: from the equation above find the smallest t such that:
( )
0
dy t
dt
=
Step response performance measures
overshoot
2
1
p
n
T


=

Peak time:
Peak value:
( )
2
/ 1
( ) 1
p
y T K e

= +
4
0.02
n s
T
s
n
e T

=
( )
( ) 1
p
y T K e = +
2% Settling time: find time T
s
such that after this time the amplitude
is within 2% of the steady-state value
Higher order systems
( ) ( ) ( )
1 2
1 2 1 2
( )
m
m m
B K B B
G s
s s s s s s s s s s s s
= = + + +

Partial fraction decomposition of the transfer function:

G(s) G(s)
Dominant pole of the transfer function: lowest absolute
value, i.e. closest to zero. Produces the slowest response
What do we mean by bounded signals? A time domain
signal, x(t), is assessed by the behaviour of its magnitude
over an infinite time interval. As time tends to infinity,
the absolute value of the signal magnitude can either:
continuously decrease and/or increase, (or stay constant)
but remain within a bounded range.
Decaying exponential signals have Laplace transforms with poles in
the LHP.
Growing or increasing exponential signals have Laplace transforms
with poles in the RHP.
We can generalise this observation as follows:
Poles in LHP and RHP: Signals whose transforms have all the poles Poles in LHP and RHP: Signals whose transforms have all the poles
in the LHP are bounded. Signals whose transforms have any one pole
in the RHP are unbounded.
Poles on j axis: Signals whose transforms have poles in the LHP
and no multiple poles on the j axis are bounded, otherwise they are
unbounded.
What is a stable system?
We call a system stable if its output signal is bounded for any
bounded input signal. We call this type of system stability
bounded-input bounded-output stability.
Stability Test: A system is stable if all its poles lie in the Left Stability Test: A system is stable if all its poles lie in the Left
Half Plane.
M Using MATLAB to check the stability of a system
Enter the System transfer function using: s = tf(s); g = ..
then either run: pzmap(g). If all the poles are located in
the LHP the system is stable. Otherwise the system is unstable.
Open loop system:
transfer function analysis:
The open-loop transfer function:

K(s) G(s)
R(s)
U(s) Y(s)
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
G K
ol
G K
n s n s
G s G s K s
d s d s
= =
( ) ( )
( ) , K(s)
( ) ( )
G K
G K
n s n s
G s
d s d s
= =
Characteristic equation of the system: find the poles of the
transfer function.
Open loop poles are the roots of :
d
OL
(s) = d
K
(s)d
G
(s) = 0
( ) ( )
G K
d s d s
Unity feedback system
transfer function analysis:

K(s) G(s)
+
-
R(s)
U(s) Y(s)
( ) ( )
( ) , K(s)
( ) ( )
G K
G K
n s n s
G s
d s d s
= =
The closed-loop transfer function:
Characteristic equation of the system: find the poles of the
transfer function.
Closed loop poles are the roots of :
d
CL
(s) = d
K
(s)d
G
(s) + n
K
(s)n
G
(s) = 0
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( )
1 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
G K
cl
G K G K
n s n s G s K s
G s
G s K s d s d s n s n s
= =
+ +
Stability necessary condition
( ) 0
1 ( ) ( ) 0
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 0
G K G K
ChE s
G s K s
d s d s n s n s
=
+ =
+ =
Characteristic equation (closed loop system):
1 2 2
1 2 2 1 0
... 0
n n n
n n n
c s c s c s c s c s c


+ + + + + + =
n-th order system
1 2 2 1 0
1 0
2
2 1 0
3 2
3 2 1 0
... 0
0
0
0
n n n
c s c s c s c s c s c
c s c
c s c s c
c s c s c s c

+ + + + + + =
+ =
+ + =
+ + + =
First order system
Second order system
Third order system
Necessary condition for stability is that all coefficients in the Characteristic
Equation have the same sign (i.e. either positive or negative).
Stability, Hurwitz-Ruth criterion
1 2 2
1 2 2 1 0
... 0
n n n
n n n
c s c s c s c s c s c


+ + + + + + =
Assume that the Characteristic Equation is n-th order polynomial:
Build a matrix as follows: 1 3 5
2 4
1 3 5
0
0
0 0
n n n
n n n
n n n
c c c
c c c
c c c
M



(
(
(
(
=
(

2 4
0
0
0
n n n
M
c c c
c

=
(
(
(
(
(

Calculate determinant of M and of all sub-matrices obtained by
cutting the last k rows and columns of M.
If all are positive, and c
n
is positive, the system is stable.
Stability, Hurwitz-Ruth criterion, examples
1 0
2
2 1 0
3 2
3 2 1 0
4 3 2
4 3 2 1 0
0
0
0
0
c s c
c s c s c
c s c s c s c
c s c s c s c s c
+ =
+ + =
+ + + =
+ + + + =
First order system
Second order system
Third order system
4-th order system
0
M c =
First order system For First order system and
1
1 0
2 0
0
, 0
c
M c c
c c
(
= >
(

2 0
3 1 2 1 3 0
2 0
0
0 , 0
0
c c
M c c c c c c
c c
(
(
= >
(
(

( )
3 1
3 2 4 1
4 2 0
3 1
2
1 3 2 4 1 0 3
4 2 0
0 0
0
0
,
0 0
0
0
c c
c c c c
c c c
M and
c c
c c c c c c c
c c c
(
>
(
(
=
(
> (

Second order system
Third order system
4-th order system
Second order system
necessary condition is also
sufficient condition.
Examples

K(s) G(s)
+
-
R(s)
U(s) Y(s)
Use SIMULINK to simulate the step responses of the systems
with transfer functions selected as below. Which combinations can
lead to unstable systems?
( )
p
I
p
I
p D
k
k
K s k
s
k
k k s
s

= +

+ +

2
2
1
1
1
( )
1 2
1
1
n n
s
K
sT
K
sT s
G s
K
s s
K
e
sT

+ +

+
lead to unstable systems?

Fast pump Slow pump
Inflow
How do the zeros of a transfer function model arise?
Zeros arise from the internal physical pathways of a process and
represent where these internal effects are adding together or
competing(subtracting ) with one another.
Example: The feeder tank is used to supply a steady flow of liquid
feed to downstream processes.
Outflow
Feeder Tank

Inflow
Unit
Voltage Step
Level
Inflow
5s+1
1
Slow pump
0.833
10s+1
Feeder Tank
0.75s+1
0.5
Fast pump
Poles, zeros and stability
Poles and time responses for first order and
second order systems
Stability and its link to location of poles of Stability and its link to location of poles of
transfer function