Stability Analysis

y t 
r t 
G  s H  s A
1 G s H s
R s Y s
t
t

Case A: Stable system.

Nature of response: Settling at some specific value with time.

 y t 
r t 
G  s H s A
1 G  s H s Y s
t R s
t

Case B: Marginally stable system.

Nature of response: Oscillating with constant amplitude about some

specific value (sustained oscillations).
 y t 
r t 
G  s H s A
1 G  s H s Y s
t R s
t

Case C: Unstable system.

Nature of response: becoming unbounded with time.

 TABLE: Comparison of responses
SN Case Excitation Response (output) Type of
(input) system
1 Case Bounded Bounded and settling at Stable
A input some specific point
2 Case Bounded Bounded having sustained Marginally
B input oscillations stable
3 Case Bounded unbounded Unstable
C input

Stable system: A system is said to be stable if it produces bounded

output settling at some specific point for bounded input.
Marginally stable system: A system is said to be marginally stable if it
produces bounded output having sustained oscillations for bounded
input.
Unstable system: A system is said to be unstable if it produces
unbounded output for bounded input.
Absolute stability and relative stability:

Absolute stability provides the information whether a system is stable or

not.

However,

Relative stability gives the information regarding degree of stability.

 s0
s'  0

a

s  a 

s  a  0 s  a  s'  s  s'  a
s '  0 
Methods for testing the absolute stability:

The characteristic equation is given as

1 G s H s  0 (1)
which can, in general, be expanded to

an s n  an1s n1    a1s  a0  0 (2)

Necessary conditions for checking the stability:

1. All the coefficients of characteristic equation should be real having

same sign.
2. None of the coefficients should be zero.

If any of the above conditions is not satisfied, the system will be

unstable.
In addition to checking the necessary conditions, any of the following
methods can be used for checking the sufficient conditions:

1. Hurwitz Criterion
2. Routh Criterion
Hurwitz criterion:

The nth-order polynomial of characteristic equation is given as

an s n  an1s n1    a1s  a0  0 (3)

Hurwitz determinant for (3) is formed as

an1 an3 an5  0 0 0 0
an an2 an  4  0 0 0 0
0 an1 an  3  0 0 0 0
       
H
0 0 0  a3 a1 0 0
0 0 0  a4 a2 a0 0
0 0 0  a5 a3 a1 0
0 0 0  a6 a4 a2 a0 nn
(4)
Form n sub-determinants from Hurwitz determinant as
an1 an3
H1  an1 , H 2  ,  (5)
an an2
The system will be stable if
Hi  0 for i  1, 2,, n (6)
Example:

Determine the stability of following characteristic equation

s3  s 2  s  4  0 (7)
using Hurwitz method.
Hurwitz determinant will be
s2 s0 0 1 4 0
H  s3 s1 0 1 1 0
0 s2 s0 0 1 4
Unstable
Limitations of Hurwitz method:

1. It does not give any information regarding marginal stability of the

system.

2. It becomes very difficult to analyze the stability when the order of

system is high.

3. It does not provide any information regarding poles in right-half of

s -plane .

Due to above limitations, Routh stability criterion is preferred.

Routh stability criterion:

The nth-order polynomial of characteristic equation is given as

an s n  an1s n1    a1s  a0  0 (8)

Form Routh array as given below

sn an an  2 an  4 an  6
s n1 an1 an  3 an  5 
s n2 b1 b2 
s n 3 c1 c2
  
s0 z1
where
an1an2  an an3
b1  (9)
an1
an1an4  an an5
b2  (10)
an1
and so on.

Note: The element z1 must turn out to be a0 .

Check:
If there is no sign change in the elements of first column of Routh table,
then the system is stable.

In case of sign change, the system becomes unstable and number of

poles in right-half of s -plane becomes equal to changes in sign.
Example:

Determine the stability of following characteristic equation

s3  s 2  s  4  0 (11)
using Routh criterion.
Routh table for above system is

s3 1 1
s2 1 4
1 11  1 4
s  3
1
0  3   4  1  0
s 4
 3
There is sign change in first column of Routh table.
Number of poles in right-half of s -plane is 2 since there are two changes
of sign (first from +ve to –ve and then –ve to +ve).
Answer check: Roots of above characteristic polynomial are
1.7430  0.0000 j
0.3715  1.4687 j
0.3715  1.4687 j
Special cases of Routh table:

Case 1: when first element of any row of Routh table is zero.

Case 2: When all elements of any row are zero.

Case 1: when first element of any row of Routh table is zero.

Example:

Determine the stability of following characteristic equation

s 5  s 4  2s 3  2s 2  3s  15  0 (12)
using Routh criterion.
The Routh array (table) is

s5 1 2 3
s4 1 2 15
s3 0 12
s2  
1 
s

s0

Replace the 0 by a small positive number  and complete the Routh

table.
 s5 1 2 3
s4 1 2 15
s3  12
2 2  12 15
s  15
 
15 2  24  144
s1 
2  12
s 0 15

 2  12   12 
lim    lim  2    2    
 0
    0
  
 15 2  24  144  144
lim       12
 0
 2  12  12
So, there is sign change (two times). Hence, system becomes unstable.
Case 2: When all elements of any row are zero.

Example:

Determine the stability of following characteristic equation

s 6  2 s5  8s 4  12s 3  20 s 2  16 s  16  0 (13)
using Routh criterion.

Routh table for above system is

s 6 1 8 20 16
s 5 2 12 16
s4 2 12 16
s3 0 0
To tackle this problem, an auxiliary equation from the row just above
the row having all zeros is formed.
The auxiliary equation for this numerical becomes
A  s   2s 4  12s 2  16 (14)
Significance of auxiliary equation: Auxiliary equation gives the most
dominant poles of system.

Calculation of elements of row having all zeros:

Differentiating the auxiliary equation one time gives the elements of
row having all zeros.
dA  s 
 8s 3  24 s (15)
ds
Now by taking these elements, the Routh table should be completed.
 s6 1 8 20 16
s5 2 12 16
s4 2 12 16
s3 8 24
s2 6 16
s1 8/3
s0 16

Stability check in case 2:

1. If there is sign change in first column, then system is unstable.
2. If there is no sign change in first column, then system may be
a. Stable,
b. Marginally stable,
c. Unstable.
The roots of auxiliary equation will confirm about the nature of
system.
Roots of auxiliary equation:

Stable Marginally stable Marginally stable

Unstable Unstable Unstable

The roots of auxiliary equation
A  s   2s 4  12s 2  16 (16)
are
 2 j ,  1.414 j (17)
Since the roots are lying on y -axis having non-repeating nature, the
system is marginally stable.
Determination of relative stability:

Example:
A system has
2
G s  and H  s   1
s  s  1 s  2 
Determine its relative stability about the line s  1.
Solution:

Characteristic equation of this system is

1  G  s  H  s   0  s 3  3s 2  2s  2  0

For relative stability

s'  s  1

Transform s into s ' and comment on the stability of transformed system.

Unstable
Determination of marginal stability:

Example:
A system has
K
G s  and H  s   1
s 1  0.4 s 1  0.25s 
Find the range of K for stability, value of K for sustained oscillations
and frequency of sustained oscillations.
Solution:

Characteristic equation of this system is

1  G  s  H  s   0  0.1s 3  0.65s 2  s  K  0
Routh table is
s 3 0.1 1
s 2 0.65 K
1 0.65  0.1K
s
0.65
s0 K
For stability
0.65  0.1K
K  0 and  K  6.5
0.65
So, the range of K for stability becomes
0  K  6.5
For marginal stability
0.65  0.1K
 0  K  6.5
0.65
In this case, the auxiliary equation becomes
A  s   0.65s 2  K  0.65s 2  6.5
The roots of auxiliary equation are
s   j 10 (18)
Comparing (18) with
s   j
gives
  10
which is the frequency of sustained oscillations at marginal gain
K mar  6.5.
Advantages of Routh criterion:
1. Stability can be judged without solving the characteristic equation.

2. It is not required to evaluate determinants as in case of Hurwitz

criterion is required.

3. It provides the information about poles in right-half of s -plane .

4. Relative stability analysis can be performed.

5. It is helpful in finding the range of system gain for stability.

6. It can provide the marginal gain, sustained frequency of oscillations.

Limitations:
1. It does not provide actual locations of all poles of the system.