Chapter 14
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University of California, Santa Barbara
Department of Chemical Engineering
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Control System Design Based on
Frequency Response Analysis
Frequency response concepts and techniques play an important
role in control system design and analysis.
Chapter 14
Closed-Loop Behavior
In general, a feedback control system should satisfy the following
design objectives:
1. Closed-loop stability
2. Good disturbance rejection (without excessive control action)
3. Fast set-point tracking (without excessive control action)
4. A satisfactory degree of robustness to process variations and
model uncertainty
5. Low sensitivity to measurement noise 2
Chapter 14
Figure 14.1 Block diagram with a disturbance D and
measurement noise N.
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Bode Stability Criterion
The Bode stability criterion has two important advantages in
comparison with the Routh stability criterion of Chapter 11:
1. It provides exact results for processes with time delays, while
Chapter 14
the Routh stability criterion provides only approximate results
due to the polynomial approximation that must be substituted
for the time delay.
2. The Bode stability criterion provides a measure of the relative
stability rather than merely a yes or no answer to the question,
“Is the closed-loop system stable?”
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Chapter 14
Step response of 1/(s2+1);
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Before considering the basis for the Bode stability criterion, it is
useful to review the General Stability Criterion of Section 11.1:
A feedback control system is stable if and only if all roots of the
characteristic equation lie to the left of the imaginary axis in the
complex plane.
Chapter 14
Before stating the Bode stability criterion, we need to introduce
two important definitions:
1. A critical frequency ωc is defined to be a value of ω for
which φOL ω 180. This frequency is also referred to as
a phase crossover frequency.
2. A gain crossover frequency ω g is defined to be a value of ω
for which AROL ω 1 .
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For many control problems, there is only a single ωc and a
single ω g . But multiple values can occur, as shown in Fig. 14.3
for ωc .
Chapter 14
Figure 14.3 Bode plot exhibiting multiple critical frequencies.
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Bode Stability Criterion. Consider an open-loop transfer function
GOL=GcGvGpGm that is strictly proper (more poles than zeros) and
has no poles located on or to the right of the imaginary axis, with
the possible exception of a single pole at the origin. Assume that
the open-loop frequency response has only a single critical
frequency ωc and a single gain crossover frequency ω g . Then the
Chapter 14
closed-loop system is stable if AROL( ωc ) < 1. Otherwise it is
unstable.
Some of the important properties of the Bode stability criterion
are:
1. It provides a necessary and sufficient condition for closed-
loop stability based on the properties of the open-loop transfer
function.
2. Unlike the Routh stability criterion of Chapter 11, the Bode
stability criterion is applicable to systems that contain time
delays. 8
3. The Bode stability criterion is very useful for a wide range of
process control problems. However, for any GOL(s) that does
not satisfy the required conditions, the Nyquist stability
criterion of Section 14.3 can be applied.
4. For systems with multiple ωc or ω g , the Bode stability
Chapter 14
criterion has been modified by Hahn et al. (2001) to provide a
sufficient condition for stability.
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Example 14.3
A process has the third-order transfer function (time constant in
minutes),
2
G p(s)
(0.5s 1)3
Chapter 14
Also, Gv = 0.1 and Gm = 10. For a proportional controller, evaluate
the stability of the closed-loop control system using the Bode
stability criterion and three values of Kc: 1, 4, and 20.
Solution
For this example,
2 2K c
G OL G cG vG pG m ( K c)(0.1) 3
(10)
(0.5s 1) (0.5s 1)3
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Figure 14.5 shows a Bode plot of GOL for three values of Kc.
Note that all three cases have the same phase angle plot because
the phase lag of a proportional controller is zero for Kc > 0.
Next, we consider the amplitude ratio AROL for each value of Kc.
Based on Fig. 14.5, we make the following classifications:
Chapter 14
Kc AROL for ω ωc Classification
1 0.25 Stable
4 1 Marginally stable
20 5 Unstable
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Chapter 14
Figure 14.5 Bode plots for GOL = 2Kc/(0.5s+1)3.
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In Section 12.5.1 the concept of the ultimate gain was introduced.
For proportional-only control, the ultimate gain Kcu was defined to
be the largest value of Kc that results in a stable closed-loop
system. The value of Kcu can be determined graphically from a
Bode plot for transfer function G = GvGpGm. For proportional-
Chapter 14
only control, GOL= KcG. Because a proportional controller has
zero phase lag if Kc > 0, ωc is determined solely by G. Also,
AROL(ω)=Kc ARG(ω) (14-9)
where ARG denotes the amplitude ratio of G. At the stability limit,
ω = ωc, AROL(ωc) = 1 and Kc= Kcu. Substituting these expressions
into (14-9) and solving for Kcu gives an important result:
1
K cu (14-10)
ARG (ωc )
The stability limit for Kc can also be calculated for PI and PID
controllers, as demonstrated by Example 14.4.
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Chapter 14
Example 14.6
Evaluate the stability of the closed-loop system in Fig. 14.1 for:
4e s
G p(s)
5s 1
(the time constants and delay have units of minutes)
Gv = 2, Gm = 0.25, Gc = Kc
Obtain ωc and Kcu from a Bode plot. Let Kc =1.5Kcu and draw the
Nyquist plot for the resulting open-loop system. 14
Solution
The Bode plot for GOL and Kc = 1 is shown in Figure 14.7. For ωc
= 1.69 rad/min, OL = -180° and AROL = 0.235. For Kc = 1, AROL =
ARG and Kcu can be calculated from Eq. 14-10. Thus, Kcu =
1/0.235 = 4.25. Setting Kc = 1.5Kcu gives Kc = 6.38.
Chapter 14
Figure 14.7
Bode plot for
Example 14.6,
Kc = 1.
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Gain and Phase Margins
Let ARc be the value of the open-loop amplitude ratio at the
critical frequency ωc . Gain margin GM is defined as:
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GM (14-11)
Chapter 14
ARc
Phase margin PM is defined as
PM 180 φ g (14-12)
• The phase margin also provides a measure of relative stability.
• In particular, it indicates how much additional time delay can be
included in the feedback loop before instability will occur.
• Denote the additional time delay as θ max .
• For a time delay of θ max, the phase angle is θ max ω .
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Chapter 14
Figure 14.9 Gain
and phase margins
in Bode plot.
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180
PM = θ max ωc (14-13)
or
PM
θ max =
(14-14)
ω
c 180
Chapter 14
where the /180 factor converts PM from degrees to radians.
• The specification of phase and gain margins requires a
compromise between performance and robustness.
• In general, large values of GM and PM correspond to sluggish
closed-loop responses, while smaller values result in less
sluggish, more oscillatory responses.
Guideline. In general, a well-tuned controller should have a gain
margin between 1.7 and 4.0 and a phase margin between 30° and
45°.
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Recognize that these ranges are approximate and that it may not
be possible to choose PI or PID controller settings that result in
specified GM and PM values.
Chapter 14
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