Chapter 7
Stability
Objectives
At the end of this chapter student should be able to:
Generate a Routh table.
Interpret the Routh table to tell how many closed-
loop system poles are in the left half-plane (lhp),
right half-plane (rhp) and on the jw-axis.
Determine the stability of a system represented by
a transfer function.
Stability
The stability of a system is its ability to give the
same output when used to measure a constant
input over a period of time.
Stability is important in designing a control system.
The output of a system can be controlled if the
steady-state response consists only the forced
response.
In actual, the total response of a system is the sum
of the forced and natural responses or:
Stability Definition
Using these concepts, the followings are the definitions of
stability, instability and marginal stability:
A linear, time-invariant system is stable if natural response
approaches zero as time approaches infinity.
A linear, time-invariant system is unstable if natural
response grows without bound as time approaches infinity.
A linear, time-invariant system is marginal stable if natural
response neither decays nor grows, but remains constant
or oscillates as time approaches infinity.
Thus the definition of stability implies that only the forced
response remains constant as the natural response
approaches zero.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion
In this section, we learn a method that yields stability
information without the need to solve for the closed-
loop system poles.
Using this method (Routh-Hurwitz criterion), we know
how many closed-loop system poles are in the left half-
plane (lhp), in the right half-plane (rhp) and on the jw-
axis.
The method requires two steps:
◦ Generate a data table called Routh table.
◦ Interpret the Routh table to tell how many closed-loop
system poles are in the left half-plane, in the right half-
plane and on the jw-axis.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion
Generating a Basic Routh Table
The equivalent closed-loop transfer function shown
in below.
Initial layout for Routh table
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion
Generating a Basic Routh Table
Completed Routh table.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion
Example 7.1
Make the Routh table for the system shown in figure
below.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion
Example 7.1
Solution:
First, we have to find the equivalent closed-loop
system because we want to test the denominator of
this function.
Using feedback formula, we obtain the equivalent
system in Figure 7.2(b).
Then we create the initial layout Routh table and
Table 7.3 is the completed Routh table.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion
Example 7.1
Solution:
Interpreting The Basic Routh Table
Simply stated, the Routh-Hurwitz criterion declares that
the number of roots of the polynomial that are in the right
half-plane is equal to the number of sign changes in the
first column.
If the closed-loop transfer function has all poles in the left
half of the s-plane, the system is stable.
Thus, a system is stable if there are no sign changes in the
first column of the Routh table.
For example, Table 7.3 has two sign changes in the first
column. The first sign change occurs from 1 in the s2 row
to –72 in the s1 row. The second occurs from –72 in the s1
row to 103 in the s0 row. Thus, the system of Figure 7.4 is
unstable since two poles exist in the right half-plane.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion
Exercise
Make a Routh table and tell how many roots of the
following polynomial are in the right half-plane and
in the left half-plane.
Answer:
Four in the right half-plane (rhp); three in the left
half-plane (lhp).
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Two special cases can occur:
1. The Routh table sometimes will have a zero only
in the first column of a row.
2. The Routh table sometimes will have an entire
row that consists of zeros.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.2
Determine the stability of the closed-loop transfer
function,
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.2
Solution:
The completed Routh table is shown in Table 7.4.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.2
Table 7.5 shows the first column of Table 7.4, along
with the resulting signs for a choice of positive
and negative.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.2
Solution:
We can see, if we choose positive or negative, Table
7.5 will show two sign changes for both conditions.
Hence, the system is unstable and has two poles in
the right half-plane.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Entire Row Is Zero
Sometimes while making a Routh table, we find
that an entire row consists of zeros because there
is an even polynomial that is a factor of the original
polynomial.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.4
Determine the number of right-half-plane poles in
the closed-loop transfer function,
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.4
Solution:
Form the Routh table as shown in Table 7.7.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.4
Solution:
At the second row, we multiply through by 1/7 for
convenience.
At third row, we can see that the entire row consists of
zeros, so we use the following procedure:
Return to the row above the row of zeros, form the
auxiliary polynomial using the entries in that row as
coefficients.
The polynomial will start with the power of s in the label
column and continue by skipping every other power of
s. Thus the polynomial formed for this example is
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.4
Solution:
Next, we differentiate the polynomial with respect
to s and obtain
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.4
Solution:
Finally, we use the coefficients of this differentiate
equation to replace the row of zeros.
For convenience, we multiplied the third row by
1/4.
There are no right-half-plane poles. For the case of
zeros row, some of the roots could be on the jw-
axis. If we do not have a row of zeros, we cannot
possibly have jw roots.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.5
For the transfer function,
Tell how many poles are in the right half-plane,
the left half-plane, and on the jw-axis.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.5
Solution:
Form the Routh table as shown in Table 7.7.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Special Cases
Example 7.5
Solution:
The results are summarized in Table 7.8.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Now we need to demonstrate the method’s
application to a number of analysis and design
problems.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.6 (Standard Routh-Hurwitz)
Find the number of poles in the left half-plane, the
right half-plane, and on the jw-axis for the system of
figure below.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.6 (Standard Routh-Hurwitz)
Solution:
First, find the closed-loop transfer function.
Then, form the Routh table as shown in Table 7.9.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.6 (Standard Routh-Hurwitz)
Solution:
Then, form the Routh table as shown in Table 7.9.
The system is unstable, since it has two rhp and 2 lhp poles.
The system cannot have jw poles since a row of zeros did not
appear in the Routh table.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.7 (Routh-Hurwitz with zero in first column)
Find the number of poles in the lhp, the rhp and on
the jw-axis for the system in Figure 7.4.
Solution:
First, find the closed loop transfer function.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.7 (Routh-Hurwitz with zero in first column)
Solution:
Next, form the Routh table as shown in table below.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.7 (Routh-Hurwitz with zero in first column)
Solution:
Permitting to be small, positive quantity, we find
that the first term of the s2 row is negative. Thus, there
are two sign changes, and the system is unstable, with
two poles in the rhp. The remaining poles are in the
lhp.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Routh-Hurwitz with row of zeros)
Find the number of poles in the lhp, rhp and on the
jw-axis for the system of Figure 7.5. Draw the
conclusions about the stability of the closed-loop
system.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Routh-Hurwitz with row of zeros)
Solution:
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Routh-Hurwitz with row of zeros)
Solution:
The summary of pole locations is shown Table
7.12. The system is unstable because of the rhp.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Stability design via Routh-Hurwitz)
Find the range of gain, K, for the system in below
figure that will cause the system to be stable,
unstable, and marginally stable. Assume K > 0.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Stability design via Routh-Hurwitz)
Solutions:
First, find the closed-loop transfer function,
Next, form the Routh table, as shown in Table 7.13.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Stability design via Routh-Hurwitz)
Solutions:
Since K is assumed positive, we see that all
elements of the first column in the Routh table are
always positive except the s1 row. This entry can be
positive, zero or negative depending upon the
value of K.
If K < 1386, all terms in the first column will be
positive, and since there are no sign changes, the
system will have three poles in the lhp and be
stable.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Stability design via Routh-Hurwitz)
Solutions:
If K > 1386, the s1 term in the first column is
negative. There are two sign changes, indicating
that the system has two rhp poles and 1 lhp pole,
which make the system is unstable.
If K = 1368, we have an entire row of zeros, which
could signify jw poles. Returning to the s2 row and
replacing K with 1386, we form the even
polynomial:
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Stability design via Routh-Hurwitz)
Solutions:
Differentiating with respect to s, we have
Replacing the row of zeros with the coefficients of
the differentiate equation, w e obtain the Routh
table shown in Table 7.14 for the case of K = 1387.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: Additional Examples
Example 7.9 (Stability design via Routh-Hurwitz)
Solutions:
Since there are no sign changes from the even
polynomial (s2 row) down to the bottom of the
table, the even polynomial has its two roots on
the jw-axis.
Since there are no sign changes above the even
polynomial, the remaining root is in the lhp.
Therefore the system is marginally stable.
