The Control Actions and Industrial Controllers

In this many figures have been borrowed from the 5th Edition of Modern Control
Engineering by K. Ogata, published by Prentice Hall. This book has been announced
as one of the textbooks in this course.

You should also see the book titled “Theory and Applications of Automatic Controls”
by B.C. Nakra and S.P. Singh, 3rd Edition, New Age International Private Limited.
The control action is shown by the block diagram given below. In this the Automatic Controller is shown. However,
we shall discuss the functions of the Amplifier in detail. Though, the name signifies that this amplifies the magnitude
of any signal entering this block, yet, in addition it may modify the signal also. The amplifier generally modifies the
signal and amplifies it physically also for the purpose of actuation.

Modification of signals are expressed by ‘Control Laws’. Normally three basic control laws are often used.
These are
1) Proportional (P) Control law, 2) Derivative (D) Control Law and 3) Integral (I) Control Law. Combinations like 4)
PD Control Law, 5) PI Control Law and of course the 6) PID Control Laws are also used based on necessity.

The amplifier generally

modifies the signal and also
amplifies it physically for the
purpose of actuation. The e(t)
is the error signal on which the
control law works.
These actions are designed, as the
purpose of any control system is to
eliminate or attenuate error, as
efficiently as possible.
1) Proportional (P) Control Law
The control action under this law is proportional to the error, the more (less) the error the more (less) is the control
action, which may be well appreciated. In mathematical form the action may be written as

in time domain and in Laplace domain

y(t) being the control signal, is the constant of proportionality.
It is obvious that if is zero, even at any instant, the control signal is also zero.

2) Derivative (D) Control Law

The control action under this law is proportional to the time rate of change of the error, i.e., the faster the change of
the error the more is the control signal and vice-versa. This may be well appreciated. Suppose if your car is fast
approaching a stop your rate of application of the brake is fast. In mathematical form the action may be written as

in time domain and in Laplace domain

y(t) is the control signal, is the constant of proportionality .
It is obvious that if the error is constant for consecutively two instants, the control signal is zero.
3) Integral (I) Control Law
The control action under this law is proportional to the integral of the error signal over a time. In mathematical
form the action may be written as

in time domain and in Laplace domain

y(t) is the control signal, is the constant of proportionality.
Unlike the proportional and derivative control laws, for the integral control law, the control signal does not
become zero even if the error becomes zero for some time as the control signal is proportional to the integral of the
error. There arises a question as to how long should the error be integrated as integrating the error for a very long
time will make the integral control action very dominant. So, there is a limited time , called the integral time, till
which the error is integrated and then the process is started again. Integral time adjusts the integral control
action. The term is called the reset rate, measured in the number of repeat of the action in a minute.

4) The PID control law

Under this law, the control signal is written as in time domain and is written as , or in Laplace Domain.
5) The on-off system, as implemented by means of a solenoid valve for a level control system is also used in
industry.

Figure-6: Fluid Level Control System with a solenoid valve

Proportional Controller
Hydraulic and Pneumatic Controllers in Industry
Hydraulic Servomotor used in Industry
Pilot Cylinder
Schematic diagram of the Hydraulic Servomotor
The working principle
1) The servomotor has two cylinders, pilot
cylinder and the power cylinder. The
pilot cylinder is much smaller than the
power cylinder.
2) The pilot cylinder places the pilot valve
appropriately to admit the high-pressure
oil to either the Port-I or to Port-II,
when the power piston moves either
towards the right or towards the left.
3) Ideally, the pilot valves should have zero
overlap with the ports of the power
cylinder, or the valve just covers the
port.
4) However, slightly underlapped valves
may be there. Valve overlap is avoided.
5) Under the zero lapped and underlapped
situations, the servomotor may be
designed to behave as an integral
controller, or
The transfer function between y(t) and x(t) for underlapped valves of a hydraulic servomotor.

AB: Length of each port of power cylinder =

CD: Length of each valve of the spool =
Dotted position of the valve CD is its position coaxial with the port.
Position shown by solid lines is the instantaneous position of CD,
when it moves to the right by with respect to its coaxial position,
as shown.

The ports and the valves are assumed similar. The areas of valve
open to high pressure side are
and , and the areas open to the low-pressure side are
and respectively, where is the width of all the ports.

So = , and

Let the supply pressure be , pressure at the reservoir be , and the

pressures on the right and left sides of the power piston be and Schematic diagram of underlapped valves
respectively. In this case , the spool moves to the right. Therefore, of a hydraulic servomotor
the power piston moves to the left.
The ports and the valves are assumed similar. The areas of valve
open to the high-pressure fluid from the spool be
and , and the areas open to the low-pressure side be
and respectively, where is the width of all the ports.
So = , and

The flow through an orifice of area A may be written by the

equation , where C is the port constant, is the difference in
pressure across the port causing the flow and is the density of the
fluid.

We consider the fluid to be oil, which is mostly incompressible,

and ignore the leakage of oil across the power-piston, as, oil rings
are provided to reduce, if not check, the leakage.

Considering incompressibility of oil, the oil coming in and going Schematic diagram of underlapped valves
out of the same area should be same. Therefore, oil entering of a hydraulic servomotor
through = the oil going out through .
We get , or

Considering (relative pressure at reservoir) to

be zero, we get
We get , or

Considering (relative pressure at reservoir)

to be zero, we get

Let us suppose ,
So, and
We see that when , then, there is no movement of
the power-piston, and this is the condition of
equilibrium. This happens corresponding to the
dotted position of the spool valves aligned coaxially
with the ports.

Schematic diagram of underlapped valves

of a hydraulic servomotor

Now, we can find out the oil flow rate in the right chamber as

This is a nonlinear equation in and . We shall first linearize this equation and then use it.
Now, we can find out the oil flow rate in the right chamber as

This is a nonlinear equation in and . We shall first linearize this equation and then use it.

Or

Plot between the oil flow rate and the

difference of pressure for different
values of x. The plot for x=0 is useful
as we are more interested about the
flow rate for the movement of the
valve about its middle position.
We may now equate the volume of oil flow over a time window flowing into the right of the power piston to the
volume swept by the piston to the left, considering incompressibility of the oil.

Therefore, or as , we get

, is the area of the face of the power piston.

or , this is the difference of pressure between the right and the left sides.
 , is the difference of pressure between the
right and the left sides.

We may now write the equation of motion of

the power piston subject to the difference of
pressure, the inertial force and the force of
friction with the wall.

by using Laplace Transform we may express

the transfer functions between and as

where and Schematic diagram of underlapped valves

of a hydraulic servomotor

The order of the system is two, however, may be converted to

behave as a first order system approximately by designing T
to be << 1 by increasing the supply pressure and using low
volume of oil. In that situation
This
relationship is
true for the
ideal case of a
zero lapped Pilot
situation. Cylinder

Schematic diagram of zero lapped

valves of hydraulic servomotor

Schematic diagram of underlapped valves

of a hydraulic servomotor
Generating different control laws between x(t) and y(t) with the help of the
servomotor.
1. For this the pilot and power pistons are connected by a lever.
The Proportional Control Law
x(t) 2. The end A, is connected with the plant, the displacement of which has to be
y(t) e(t)
controlled.

B 3. The pilot piston is the easiest to displace. The net displacement of the pilot piston
C A has got two components, 1) due to the error e(t) and 2) due to the motion of the
b a power piston y(t).

4. The block diagram expresses the relationship between the input e(t) and the output
Oil to sump
y(t), where K ≡
Oil under
high
pressure

Oil to sump

Pilot Cylinder

Power Cylinder

The pilot and power pistons are

connected by a lever.
The Transfer Function:

If we design the system such that >>1, then

and the servo system will work as a Proportional Controller.

 The Damper or Dashpot supported on a spring
The damper is an annulus filled with oil and a piston, ideally a leakproof one, with an area A moves through the oil,
as shown. Since oil is incompressible, the piston cannot move, and, therefore, a connection with a valve of resistance
R is shown to resist the motion of the piston. Again, the damper is supported on a spring of stiffness k. As any force
is applied on the piston to displace it by y(t) with respect to the base, the body of the damper also moves, say by an
amount z(t) with respect to the base. We shall try to find the transfer function between z(t) and y(t).

Thus, ; A (), , in () are the oil pressures in the lower and the upper portions of
the piston and > , k (N/m)

Again, → ; R is given in

, → , as oil is incompressible.
q(t)
So, or
R
y(t)
A

z(t) k
 The Arrangement to get Proportional and Integral (PI) Control Action

x(t)
k
z(t)
b a
e(t)

Oil to reservoir Corresponding block diagram

Oil under pressure =
Power Cylinder Oil to reservoir or
Pilot Cylinder
if >>1;

y(t)
The Arrangement to get Proportional and Derivative (PD) Control Action

x(t) 1) We may write ; are the pressure in the compartments

z(t) above and below the piston, considering the direction of
motion of the piston.
Density
of oil: ρ 2) Again,
e(t)
R 3) So,

A q(t)
k 4) Again,

5) So as

Oil to reservoir 6) Therefore,

Oil under pressure
7) Taking Laplace Transform with no initial condition, we
Oil to reservoir
may write,

8) or ;
y(t)
 z(t) x(t)

Density
of oil: ρ
e(t)
R

q(t) The block diagram

A

Oil to reservoir
If the system is designed such that is >> 1, then
Oil under pressure

Oil to reservoir

y(t)
The Arrangement for Proportional Integral Derivative Control Action from the Hydraulic Servomotor

x(t)
𝒌𝟏
z(t)
A
e(t)
R
𝒒 𝟏(𝒕)
R The block diagram
𝒒 𝟐(𝒕) 1) It may be noticed that the power cylinder and the 1st damper are
w(t)
attached to the base, while the body of the 2nd damper is supported by a
𝒌𝟐 spring from the base.

Oil to reservoir 2) It may be noticed that the piston of the power cylinder is connected to
the 1st damper through a spring of stiffness , the shafts of pistons of the
Oil under pressure two dampers are directly connected and at the end the body of the
Oil to second damper is connected to the base through a spring of stiffness .
reservoir
3) So, displacement y(t) of the power cylinder with respect to the base,
y(t) generates displacement w(t) at a point after spring , with respect to the
base and the body of the second damper displaces by z(t) with respect
to the base.
 x(t)
𝒌𝟏
z(t)
A
e(t) The block diagram
R
𝒒 𝟏(𝒕)
It can be proven that , where
R
𝒒 𝟐(𝒕)
w(t) So,
𝒌𝟐
Now considering
Oil to reservoir we get,
Oil under pressure
Oil to
reservoir

y(t)
Therefore, may be written as

, where

So, with proper design, the arrangement acts as a Proportional, Integral and Derivative controller
Pneumatic Controllers
How to model the pneumatic systems?
The system is shown below. The characteristics of the system is shown by the side. The characteristics can be
linearized at the point of operation as shown. The system is modelled by two parameters a) Capacitance and b)
Resistance.

Definition of resistance: Difference of pressure across the orifice in / Difference of flow rate in mass flow per unit
time kg/second.

Flow vs. differential

The system with tank and orifice
pressure characteristics
Definition of capacitance: Change in mass of gas stored / Change in gas pressure.

where is the volume of the tank and is the density of the gas. Volume of the tank is fixed, however, the gas being
compressible, its density varies.
We need to find the rate of change of with respect to pressure p. Say we consider an ideal gas, and the gas undergoes a
polytropic process given by

or

So,
Again, from the law of an ideal gas
or
is the specific volume of the gas or volume per unit mass of and is the gas constant, , where M is the molar mass of the
gas.

So
Let us find the Transfer Function between and , the output
pressure and the input pressure respectively for the following
system. For a small time-window , we may write

or

In the limiting situation as ,

We may write

Again,
Or

Therefore, 𝑷 𝒐 ( 𝒔) 𝟏
=
𝑷 𝒊( 𝒔 ) (𝟏+ 𝑪𝑹𝒔)
Pneumatic Controllers: The controllers employ the Nozzle-Flapper system, which generate a back pressure when
air is supplied at pressure , and the magnitude of the back pressure depends on the movement X of the flapper, as
shown in (a). The figure (b) shows the variation of pressure with X. When the nozzle is blocked, the pressure =
and when the flapper is far away from the nozzle, = or the Atmospheric pressure.
1) Normally, = 20 psig.
= 1.4 kgf/sq.cm gauge
= 137.34 kPa.
2) The diameter of the
orifice is 0.25 mm.
Almost linear portion and diameter of the
nozzle is 0.40 mm.
The diameter of the
nozzle should be > the
diameter of the
orifice.
3) The distance between
the flapper and the
nozzle should be <
0.254 mm for the
system to function.
The almost linear
portion of the curve is
utilized.
Pneumatic Relays: In a pneumatic control system, the nozzle flapper system is the 1 st stage of amplifier. This is
followed by the pneumatic relay. A pneumatic relay is the second stage of amplifier. A pneumatic relay handles large
quantity of air flow. Schematic diagrams of two relays are given in (a) and (b). The type (a) is a bleeding type relay
and (b) is a non-bleeding type relay.
In (a) when acts, partially (i.e., < , when the diaphragm is pushed down and both the top and bottom valves are open
partially, a part of supply air pressure from the supply source acts on the pneumatic valve, and, as a result, a portion
of the supply air bleeds out to the atmosphere. This is called an air bleeding type relay.
The air does not bleed when the full back pressure, , acts closing the top port and opening the bottom port. The
bleeding of air does not happen in (b), so, it is called a non-bleeding type pneumatic relay.

Top port
The pressure acts as soon as
is applied, i.e., the time
constant is negligible. So, the
relay may be modelled by a
constant multiplier

Bottom port
Pneumatic Proportional Control Action

Bellow of stiffness
Pneumatic Proportional Control Action

Block Diagram

Transfer Function

if >> 1

A: Area of the bellow, : Stiffness of the bellow.

The Proportional plus Derivative Control Action
The conceptual diagram is shown, where the relay has not been shown to keep the diagram simple. It is
assumed that the back pressure gets amplified by the relay to generate , which is applied to the pneumatic
valve. The basic difference is the presence of an orifice in the line entering the bellow. The bellow is supposed to
have a capacitance C and the orifice before the bellow has a resistance R.

The Transfer Function is:

The Transfer Function is:

If we design the system such that >> 1, then we

may write that

Or ,

This expresses a Proportional and Derivative

control action.
The Proportional and Integral Control Action

We use two opposed bellows. The details are shown

above. Expansion of bellow I decreases pressure,
expansion of bellow II increases pressure.

The Block Diagram

 𝟏 𝑪𝑹𝒔
𝟏− =
𝟏+ 𝑪𝑹𝒔 𝟏+ 𝑪𝑹𝒔

Transfer Function:
If , then =

Or ,
The Proportional Integral and Derivative Control Action
There are two orifices and on the lines as shown, and >> .

Transfer Function:
Block
Diagram
Transfer Function:
If it is designed such that >> 1
Then

Let

So,

As , so,
Or,