Discussion

The purposes of frequency response experiment are to demonstrate the

amplitude frequency and amplitude phase characteristics (frequency response
characteristics) of single pneumatic tank (Tank A and Tank B respectively) and two
pneumatic tanks connected in series (Tank A + Tank B). Minimum and maximum
reading of input and output (V1, V2 or V3), time delay (TD) and cycle time (TC) were
noted during the experiment. A Bode diagram consists of two graphs: one is the plot
of the logarithm of the magnitude of a sinusoidal transfer function, AR and the other
one is a plot of the phase angle, both are plotted against the frequency in
logarithmic scale.Time delay which happens in almost all the control system is the
difference between input and output while cycle time is the period required to
complete a cycle (360 degree) of the system. Sinusoidal inputs are used throughout
the experiment as they have the unique property in which when they are supplied
as the input (or driving force) to a linear system, the output will be the same sine
wave shape, but in different amplitude and phase. Furthermore, changes in phase
and amplitude are very easy to describe mathematically at any given frequency.
Experiment A: Single Pneumatic Tank Tank A
For experiment using tank A as a single pneumatic tank from graph 5.1, it is
shown that the logarithm of amplitude ratio decreases as the frequency increases
meaning that the output amplitude value becomes closer to the input amplitude
value as the frequency increases. At low frequencies, as the frequency is increased,
the amplitude ratio decreases to nearly 1 by keeping the input amplitude constant
whereas the output amplitude progressively decreases ( Coughanowr,1991). This
phenomenon is called the attenuation. Attenuation of load disturbances is often a
primary goal for control. This is particularly the case when controlling processes that
run in steady state (Ozbay, 1999).
Theoretically,

at

high

frequencies,

the

amplitude

ratio

drops

to

an

infinitesimal level for first order system and the slope is -1. This is because the
shorter the time interval of the disturbance (higher input frequency), the more
significant the damping effect the tank will have on the output. Inversely, if the
frequency is small, which corresponds to a longer disturbance interval, the effect on

the output will be much greater. This causes the greater amplitude ratio. Based on
the result obtained, amplitude ratio is larger than 1 for every frequency in which
violates the theoretical value that should be lesser than 1. This might be due to the
error in equipment (oscillographic recorder) when conducting the experiment.
From graph 5.2, we can see that the phase lag increases as the frequency
increases. This is because the delay of the output will be increased as the frequency
increases and theoretically, the phase lag for a 1st order process will not exceed
90. Bode diagram 1 of Tank A shows that the system is a first order system since it
simulates the theoretical Bode plots of first order system whereas bode diagram 2
shows an inverse data compared to the theoretical Bode plots of first order system .
Experiment B: Single Pneumatic Tank Tank B
For experiment using tank B , from graph 5.3, we can see that the amplitude
ratio is almost consistent with increasing frequency as attenuation does not occur in
Tank B. It requires a higher frequency input in order to damp and gets the output
amplitude value closer to the input amplitude value. Based on the result obtained,
amplitude ratio in tank B is larger than 1 for every frequency in which violates the
theoretical value that should be lesser than 1. This might be due to the error in
equipment (oscillographic recorder) when conducting the experiment. From graph
5.4, we can see that the phase lag stays consistent throughout the experiment.
Tank B shows a slower response compared to tank A due to its bigger size or longer
length. However, both of the Bode plots of Tank B do not show the same trend as
the theoretical first order Bode Plots. This is probably due to the error in equipment
and error occurs when conducting the experiment.

Experiment C: Two Pneumatic Tank Connected in Series Tank A+B

For experiment using both tank A and B in series, from graph 5.5, we can see
that the amplitude ratio is gradually fluctuates with increasing frequency. The
phenomenon of attenuation does not occur since the amplitude ratio did not
decrease significantly. From graph 5.6, we can see that the phase lag in tank A+B
has the largest value compared to tank A and tank B . This is because tank A and
tank B connected in series has the longest length for the input to pass through

which causes a longer delay on the process output. Theoretically, this experiment
should exhibit a 2nd order process behavior because tank A and tank B are
connected in series. The AR should decrease with the increase in frequency with a
slope of 2 when plotted on a log scale. Also, the phase lag should increase with an
increase in frequency till a max value of 180. However, both of the Bode plots of
Tank A+B do not show the same trend as the theoretical 2nd order Bode Plots. This
is probably due to the error in equipment and error occurs when conducting the
experiment.

Time delay, Td and Cycle Time, Tc

From graph 5.7, we can see that tank A results in the most rapid response as
its time delay is the smallest among these three tank configurations. It is followed
by tank B and lastly tank A connected with tank B in series. Thus it can be
concluded that time delay increases when the tank length increases as the longer
distance between the input and the sensor. Time delay of Tank A decreases with
increasing frequency, while remains mostly constant in Tank B and Tank A+B. From
graph 5.8, we can see that the cycle time for tank A decreases and almost reaches
constant at 1s whereas cycle time for tank B and tank (A + B) are almost consistent
at 100s. Supposedly at higher frequency, cycle time should decrease till it reaches a
constant value in which depicted by the response of tank A. However, tank B and
tank (A+B) results in a much slower response thus they require a higher frequency
in order to decrease its cycle time. Overall, tank A has the most rapid response as
compared to tank B and tank (A+B) because it has the shortest length which allows
a higher sensitivity and faster response for any disturbance detected.
Comparison between oscillographic recorder reading and manual reading
Based on the results obtained, both bode plots for tank A in manual reading
shows the same trend as in oscillographic recorder. However the amplitude ratio
values differ in both readings in which the amplitude ratio from oscillographic
recorder readings are larger than 1 whereas the amplitude ratio values are lesser
than 1 in manual readings. Theoretically, the amplitude ratio should be lesser than
1. Thus, amplitude ratio value from oscillographic recorder violates the theoretical
value due to the error in equipment when conducting the experiment.

For both tank B and tank A+B, the bode plot of magnitude versus frequency
in manual reading differs with oscillographic recorder as it simulates the theoretical
bode plot of 1st order system. However, the Bode plots in oscillographic recorder do
not show the same trend as the theoretical 1 st order Bode Plots. This is probably due
to the error in equipment and error occurs when conducting the experiment. For
bode plots of phase angle versus frequency in both tank B and A+B, the manual
reading shows the same trend of bode diagram as in oscillographic recorder.

References
Ozbay, H. (1999). Disturbance Attenuation. In H. Ozbay, Introduction to Feedback
Control Theory (p. 232). CRC Press.
Coughanowr, D. R, Process System Analysis and Control, 2 nd edition McGraw Hill
New York 1991.