CHAPTER 6-1

DESIGN OF SINGLE-LOOP FEEDBACK

CONTROL SYSTEMS
IVAN PORTNOY, Ph.D.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter we will put together the concepts learnt in previous chapters
in order to design and tune single-loop feedback control systems.

The concept of feedback control is more than 2000 years old, but it found a
practical industrial application just when James Watt used it for controlling
the speed of his steam engine about 200 years ago.

Nowadays, almost all automatic control systems include feedback control.

None of the advanced control techniques developed in the last 50 years in
order to enhance its performance has been able to replace it
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP
 
(controlled variable) must be maintained at the desired value, , in the presence of
variations in and (disturbances). This is made by adjusting (manipulated variable).
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP
Variations in outlet temperature are sensed by the transmitter and sent to the controller,
causing the controller signal to vary. This, in turn, causes the valve position, and
consequently the steam flow, to vary. These variations in steam flow cause the outlet
temperature to vary, thus completing the loop.
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
BLOCK DIAGRAM
 
The linear approximation to the response of the output of this process can be
represented by the sum of several blocks, each one of them recording the
contribution a single variable, e.g., process flow (), steam flow () and inlet
temperature ().
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
BLOCK DIAGRAM
Note that in this block diagram representation the inlet temperature has not
been considered as an input signal, for simplicity concerns.
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CLOSED LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTIONS

And
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CLOSED LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTIONS:
A SIMPLIFIED FORM

 
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CLOSED LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTIONS:
A SIMPLER FORM

,
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION
 
It is noticeable that the denominator of the closed-loop transfer functions of a
feedback control loop is independent of the location of the input to the loop.
Therefore, it is characteristic of the loop. The response shape and stability of
this loop depend on the roots of:

Equation above is named the “Characteristic Equation” of the loop. This is why
the response of the loop can be tuned by adjusting the controller parameters.
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION
 
The characteristic equation determines the unforced response of the closed loop:

Then:
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION: WHY IS
THERE OFFSET WITH A P CONTROLLER?
Consider the following block diagram representation of a control closed loop:

 
Where:
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION: WHY IS THERE
OFFSET WITH A P CONTROLLER?
 
Then:

Notice that:

This is why there is offset!

 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION: ONLY I CONTROLLER
BEHAVIOR
 
Let us suppose now that:

The closed loop transfer function is:

Then:

There is no offset!
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
STEADY STATE DEVIATION (OFFSET) AFTER SETPOINT
AND DISTURBANCE CHANGES
 
Let us suppose now that, at nominal conditions:

By definition:

then, the steady-state change in , caused by changes in setpoint and/or a disturbance, ,

is:

and offset will be:

 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION: A GLIMPSE OF LOOP
STABILITY
When a closed loop is about to go unstable, the roots of the characteristic equation lie in
the imaginary axis of the complex plane.
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION: A GLIMPSE OF LOOP
STABILITY
 
Thus, if we want to find out the controller gain and loop oscillation period just when it is
about to go unstable (i.e., it is marginally stable), we must set into the characteristic
equation. This will result in a complex equation with two unknowns: The ultimate
controller gain, , and the ultimate oscillation frequency, . The ultimate oscillation period is
defined as:
 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION: A GLIMPSE OF LOOP
STABILITY: EXAMPLE
 
Let be the characteristic equation of a closed loop. Now, setting we have:

Separating the real and imaginary parts into two equations yields:

There are two solutions:

 THE FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
CHARACTERISITIC EQUATION: A GLIMPSE OF LOOP
STABILITY: EXAMPLE

The first solution corresponds to the monotonic unstable response caused by a wrong
controller action, and the second one corresponds to the marginally stable response. Then:

And: