Chapter 6

Stability
Stability
- Most important system specification
= + ;→

 Based on natural response:

1. Stable → approaches Zero
2. Unstable→ grows w/o bound
3. Marginally Stable→ neither decays nor grows
Stability
 Using Poles:
1. Stable → Poles only in LHP
2. Unstable → atleast one pole in RHP and/or poles on the
imaginary axis
3. Marginally Stable → imaginary axis and poles in the LHP
Stability

 Systems is said to be stable, when it has closed-loop transfer

functions with poles only in the left half-plane.

 Systems is said to be unstable, when it has closed loop transfer

functions with at least one pole in the right half-plane and/or
poles of multiplicity greater than 1 on the imaginary axis.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion

The Routh-Hurwitz criterion is a necessary and sufficient

criterion for the stability of linear systems. The method was originally
developed in terms of determinants, but we shall use the more
convenient array formulation.
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion

The Routh-Hurwitz criterion states that the number of roots of

q(s) with positive real parts is equal to the number of changes in sign of
the first column of the Routh array.
Generating a Basic Routh Table

R(s) C(s)
4 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 0

4 2 0

3 1 0
Initial Layout for Routh Table
Completed Routh Table
4 2 0

3 1 0

4 2 4 0 4 0
− − −
3 1 = 3 0 = 3 0 =0
1 2
3 3 3

3 1 3 0
− 3 0 −
1 2 = − 1 0 =0
1 1 0 =0
1 1
1

1 2 1 0
− 1 0 −
1 0 = − 1 0 =0
1 1 0 =0
1 1
1
Case 1. No elements in the first column is zero

Example 28. Second-order system

The characteristic polynomial of a second-order system is

= + +
The Routh array is where
− (0) −1
= = 0 =
2 0

1 0 Therefore, the requirement for a stable second-order

b1 0
system is simply that all the coefficients be positive or all
the coefficients be negative.
Example 29. Third-order system

The characteristic polynomial of a third-order system is

= + + +

The Routh array is where

−
3 1 = =
2 0

1 0 For the third-order system to be stable, it is necessary

1 0 and sufficient that the coefficients be positive and
> .
Example 30
Consider the polynomial

= −1+ 7 −1− 7 +3
= + + 2 + 24

The polynomial satisfies all the necessary conditions because all the
coefficients exist and are positive. Therefore, utilizing the Routh array, we
have; 1 2 Because two changes in sign appear in the
1 24 first column, we find that two roots of q(s)
lie in the right-hand plane, and our prior
−22 0
knowledge is confirmed.
24 0
Example 30
Find the stability of the control system having characteristics equation.
+3 +3 +2 +1=0

The polynomial satisfies all the

necessary conditions because all the

1 3 1
coefficients exist and are positive.
3 2 0
Therefore, utilizing the Routh array, we have;
7/3 1 0
5/7 0 0
1 0 0
Case 2. There is a zero in the first column, but some other
elements of the row containing the zero in the first
column are nonzero.
Consider the following characteristic polynomial:
= +2 +2 +4 + 11 + 10
The Routh array is then where
4 ∈ −12 6 − 10 ∈
1 2 11 = = →6
∈
2 4 10
∈ 6 0
There are two sign changes due to the large
negative number in the first column, C1 = -12/∈.
c1 10 0
Therefore, the system is unstable, and two roots
d1 0 0
lie in the right half of the plane.
10 0 0
Case 3. There is a zero in the first column, and the
other elements of the row containing the zero are
also zero.
Case 3 occurs when all the elements in one row are zero or when the row
consists of a single element that is zero.
Case 3 occurs when factors such as (s + )(s - ) or (s + j ))(s -j )occur
Consider the following characteristic polynomial:
= +2 +4 +

The Routh array is then 1 4

2 K
8− 0
2
K 0
for a stable system, we require that 0 < < 8.

When K = 8, we have two roots on the -axis and a marginal

stability case.
=2 + =2 +8=2 + 4 = ( + 2)( − 2)

When K = 8, the factors of the characteristic polynomial are

= ( + 2)( + 2)( − 2)
Note that we obtain a row of zeros (Case 3) when K = 8. The auxiliary
polynomial, U(s), is the equation of the row preceding the row of zeros.
The equation of the row preceding the row of zeros is, in this case,
obtained from the s2-row. We recall that this row contains the
coefficients of the even powers of s, and therefore we have
To show that the auxiliary polynomial, U(s), is indeed a factor of the
characteristic polynomial, we divide q(s) by U(s) to obtain

The marginal case response is an unacceptable oscillation.

Case 4. Repeated roots of the characteristic
equation on the -axis.
If the -axis roots of the characteristic equation are simple, the
system is neither stable nor unstable; it is instead called marginally
stable, since it has an undamped sinusoidal mode. If the -axis roots
are repeated, the system response will be unstable with a form t
sin +∅ .
Consider the system with a characteristic polynomial
= +1 + − + −
= + +2 +2 + +1

The Routh array is where ∈→ 0. Note the absence of sign changes, a condition
that falsely indicates that the system is marginally stable. The
1 2 1
impulse response of the system increases with time as t
1 2 1
sin + ∅ . The auxiliary polynomial at the line is + 1,
∈ ∈ 0
and the auxiliary polynomial at the line is +2 +1=
1 1
+ 1 , indicating the repeated roots on the j -axis.
∈ 0
1
Example 31

Consider the characteristic polynomial

= + +4 + 24 + 3 + 63

The Routh array is Therefore, the auxiliary polynomial is

1 4 3
= 21 + 63 = 21 +3
1 24 63
-20 -60 0 = 21 + 3 − 3
21 63 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
which indicates that two roots are on the imaginary axis. To examine
the remaining roots, we divide by the auxiliary polynomial to obtain

( )
= + + + 21
+3

Establishing a Routh array for this equation, we have

The two changes in sign in the first column
1 1 indicate the presence of two roots in the right-
1 21 hand plane, and the system is unstable. The roots
-20 0 in the right-hand plane are = +1 ± 6.
21 0