Control Systems

2024

CONTROL ENGINEERING
Stability-Routh Hurwitz & Root Locus

A VIJAY KUMAR,
Assistant Professor, EEE.
B V Raju Institute of Technology
Narsapur

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 1. STABILITY
What is Stability?
A system is said to be stable, if its output is under control. Otherwise, it is said
to be unstable. A stable system produces a bounded output for a given
bounded input.

The following figure shows the response of a stable system.

This is the response of first order control system for unit step input. This
response has the values between 0 and 1. So, it is bounded output. We know
that the unit step signal has the value of one for all positive values of t
including zero. So, it is bounded input. Therefore, the first order control system
is stable since both the input and the output are bounded.

Types of Systems based on Stability

We can classify the systems based on stability as follows.
1. Absolutely stable system
2. Conditionally stable system
3. Marginally stable system

Absolutely Stable System

If the system is stable for all the range of system component values, then it is
known as the absolutely stable system. The open loop control system is
absolutely stable if all the poles of the open loop transfer function present in
left half of ‘s’ plane. Similarly, the closed loop control system is absolutely
stable if all the poles of the closed loop transfer function present in the left half
of the ‘s’ plane.

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Conditionally Stable System

If the system is stable for a certain range of system component values, then it
is known as conditionally stable system.

Marginally Stable System

If the system is stable by producing an output signal with constant amplitude
and constant frequency of oscillations for bounded input, then it is known as
marginally stable system. The open loop control system is marginally stable if
any two poles of the open loop transfer function is present on the imaginary
axis. Similarly, the closed loop control system is marginally stable if any two
poles of the closed loop transfer function is present on the imaginary axis.

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 ROUTH-HURWITZ STABILITY CRITERION

Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion is having one necessary condition and one

sufficient condition for stability. If any control system doesn’t satisfy the
necessary condition, then we can say that the control system is unstable. But,
if the control system satisfies the necessary condition, then it may or may not
be stable. So, the sufficient condition is helpful for knowing whether the control
system is stable or not.

Necessary Condition for Routh-Hurwitz Stability

The necessary condition is that the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial
should be positive. This implies that all the roots of the characteristic equation
should have negative real parts.

Consider the characteristic equation of the order ‘n’ is -

Note that, there should not be any term missing in the nth order characteristic
equation. This means that the nth order characteristic equation should not
have any coefficient that is of zero value.

Sufficient Condition for Routh-Hurwitz Stability

The sufficient condition is that all the elements of the first column of the Routh
array should have the same sign. This means that all the elements of the first
column of the Routh array should be either positive or negative.

Routh Array Method

If all the roots of the characteristic equation exist to the left half of the ‘s’ plane,
then the control system is stable. If at least one root of the characteristic
equation exists to the right half of the ‘s’ plane, then the control system is
unstable. So, we have to find the roots of the characteristic equation to know

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whether the control system is stable or unstable. But, it is difficult to find the
roots of the characteristic equation as order increases.

So, to overcome this problem there we have the Routh array method. In this
method, there is no need to calculate the roots of the characteristic equation.
First formulate the Routh table and find the number of the sign changes in the
first column of the Routh table. The number of sign changes in the first column
of the Routh table gives the number of roots of characteristic equation that
exist in the right half of the ‘s’ plane and the control system is unstable.

Follow this procedure for forming the Routh table.

1. Fill the first two rows of the Routh array with the coefficients of the
characteristic polynomial as mentioned in the table below. Start with the
coefficient of sn and continue up to the coefficient of s0.
2. Fill the remaining rows of the Routh array with the elements as mentioned
in the table below. Continue this process till you get the first column
element of row s0 is an. Here, an is the coefficient of s0 in the characteristic
polynomial.

Note − If any row elements of the Routh table have some common factor, then
you can divide the row elements with that factor for the simplification will be
easy.

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 The following table shows the Routh array of the nth order characteristic
polynomial.

Example
Let us find the stability of the control system having characteristic equation,

Step 1 − Verify the necessary condition for the Routh-Hurwitz stability.

All the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial,

are positive. So, the control system satisfies the necessary condition.

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Step 2 − Form the Routh array for the given characteristic polynomial.

Step 3 − Verify the sufficient condition for the Routh-Hurwitz stability.

All the elements of the first column of the Routh array are positive. There is no
sign change in the first column of the Routh array. So, the control system is
stable.

Special Cases of Routh Array

We may come across two types of situations, while forming the Routh table. It
is difficult to complete the Routh table from these two situations.
The two special cases are −
1. The first element of any row of the Routh array is zero.
2. All the elements of any row of the Routh array are zero.

Let us now discuss how to overcome the difficulty in these two cases, one by
one.

First Element of any row of the Routh array is zero

If any row of the Routh array contains only the first element as zero and at
least one of the remaining elements have non-zero value, then replace the first
element with a small positive integer, ϵ. And then continue the process of

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completing the Routh table. Now, find the number of sign changes in the first
column of the Routh table by substituting ϵ tends to zero.

Example
Let us find the stability of the control system having characteristic equation,

Step 1 − Verify the necessary condition for the Routh-Hurwitz stability.

All the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial,

are positive. So, the control system satisfied the necessary condition.
Step 2 − Form the Routh array for the given characteristic polynomial.

The row s3 elements have 2 as the common factor. So, all these elements are
divided by 2.

Special case (i) − Only the first element of row s2 is zero. So, replace it by ϵ
and continue the process of completing the Routh table.

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Step 3 − Verify the sufficient condition for the Routh-Hurwitz stability.

As ϵ tends to zero, the Routh table is.

There are two sign changes in the first column of Routh table. Hence, the control
system is unstable.

All the Elements of any row of the Routh array are zero
In this case, follow these two steps −
1. Write the auxilary equation, A(s) of the row, which is just above the row
of zeros.
2. Differentiate the auxiliary equation, A(s) with respect to s. Fill the row of
zeros with these coefficients.

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Example
Let us find the stability of the control system having characteristic equation,

Step 1 − Verify the necessary condition for the Routh-Hurwitz stability.

All the coefficients of the given characteristic polynomial are positive. So, the
control system satisfied the necessary condition.
Step 2 − Form the Routh array for the given characteristic polynomial.

The row s4 elements have the common factor of 3. So, all these elements are
divided by 3.
Special case (ii) − All the elements of row s3 are zero. So, write the auxiliary
equation, A(s) of the row s4

Differentiate the above equation with respect to s.

Place these coefficients in row s3

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Step 3 − Verify the sufficient condition for the Routh-Hurwitz stability.

There are two sign changes in the first column of Routh table. Hence, the control
system is unstable.

In the Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion, we can know whether the closed loop
poles are in on left half of the ‘s’ plane or on the right half of the ‘s’ plane or on
an imaginary axis. So, we can’t find the nature of the control system. To
overcome this limitation, there is a technique known as the root locus

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 ROOT LOCUS

Introduction
The Root locus is the locus of the roots of the characteristic equation by varying
system gain K from zero to infinity.

We know that, the characteristic equation of the closed loop control system is

We can represent G(s)H(s) as

Where,
 K represents the multiplying factor
 N(s) represents the numerator term having (factored) nth order
polynomial of ‘s’.
 D(s) represents the denominator term having (factored) mth order
polynomial of ‘s’.

Substitute, G(s)H(s) value in the characteristic equation.

Case 1 − K = 0
If K=0, then D(s)=0.
Therefore, the closed loop poles are equal to open loop poles when K is
zero.

Case 2 − K = ∞
Re-write the above characteristic equation as

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Substitute, K=∞ in the above equation.

If K=∞, then N(s)=0. Therefore, the closed loop poles are equal to the open
loop zeros when K is infinity.

From above two cases, we can conclude that the root locus branches start at
open loop poles and end at open loop zeros.

Angle Condition and Magnitude Condition

The points on the root locus branches satisfy the angle condition. So, the angle
condition is used to know whether the point exist on root locus branch or not.
We can find the value of K for the points on the root locus branches by using
magnitude condition. So, we can use the magnitude condition for the points,
and this satisfies the angle condition.

Characteristic equation of closed loop control system is

The phase angle of G(s)H(s) is

The angle condition is the point at which the angle of the open loop transfer
function is an odd multiple of 1800.

Magnitude of G(s)H(s) is -

The magnitude condition is that the point (which satisfied the angle
condition) at which the magnitude of the open loop transfer function is one.

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ROOT LOCUS

The root locus is a graphical representation in s-domain and it is symmetrical

about the real axis. Because the open loop poles and zeros exist in the s-
domain having the values either as real or as complex conjugate pairs. In this
chapter, let us discuss how to construct (draw) the root locus.

Rules for Construction of Root Locus

Follow these rules for constructing a root locus.

Rule 1 − Locate the open loop poles and zeros in the ‘s’ plane.

Rule 2 − Find the number of root locus branches.

We know that the root locus branches start at the open loop poles and end at
open loop zeros. So, the number of root locus branches N is equal to the
number of finite open loop poles P or the number of finite open loop zeros Z,
whichever is greater.

Mathematically, we can write the number of root locus branches N as

N=P

if P≥Z

N=Z

if P<Z

Rule 3 − Identify and draw the real axis root locus branches.

If the angle of the open loop transfer function at a point is an odd multiple of
1800, then that point is on the root locus. If odd number of the open loop poles
and zeros exist to the left side of a point on the real axis, then that point is on

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the root locus branch. Therefore, the branch of points which satisfies this
condition is the real axis of the root locus branch.

Rule 4 − Find the centroid and the angle of asymptotes.

 If P=Z, then all the root locus branches start at finite open loop poles and
end at finite open loop zeros.
 If P>Z, then Z number of root locus branches start at finite open loop
poles and end at finite open loop zeros and P−Z number of root locus
branches start at finite open loop poles and end at infinite open loop
zeros.
 If P<Z, then P number of root locus branches start at finite open loop
poles and end at finite open loop zeros and Z−P number of root locus
branches start at infinite open loop poles and end at finite open loop
zeros.

So, some of the root locus branches approach infinity, when P≠Z. Asymptotes
give the direction of these root locus branches. The intersection point of
asymptotes on the real axis is known as centroid.

We can calculate the centroid  by using this formula,

The formula for the angle of asymptotes θ is

Where,

q=0,1,2,....,(P−Z)−1

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Rule 5 − Find the intersection points of root locus branches with an imaginary
axis.

We can calculate the point at which the root locus branch intersects the
imaginary axis and the value of K at that point by using the Routh array
method and special case (ii).

 If all elements of any row of the Routh array are zero, then the root locus
branch intersects the imaginary axis and vice-versa.
 Identify the row in such a way that if we make the first element as zero,
then the elements of the entire row are zero. Find the value of K for this
combination.
 Substitute this K value in the auxiliary equation. You will get the
intersection point of the root locus branch with an imaginary axis.

Rule 6 − Find Break-away and Break-in points.

 If there exists a real axis root locus branch between two open loop poles,
then there will be a break-away point in between these two open loop
poles.
 If there exists a real axis root locus branch between two open loop zeros,
then there will be a break-in point in between these two open loop zeros.

Note − Break-away and break-in points exist only on the real axis root locus
branches.

Follow these steps to find break-away and break-in points.

 Write K in terms of s from the characteristic equation 1+G(s)H(s)=0.

 Differentiate K with respect to s and make it equal to zero. Substitute
these values of s in the above equation.
 The values of s for which the K value is positive are the break points.

Rule 7 − Find the angle of departure and the angle of arrival.

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The Angle of departure and the angle of arrival can be calculated at complex
conjugate open loop poles and complex conjugate open loop zeros respectively.

The formula for the angle of departure ϕd is

The formula for the angle of arrival ϕa is

Where,

Example

Let us now draw the root locus of the control system having open loop transfer
function, G(s)H(s)=K/s(s+1)(s+5)

Step 1 − The given open loop transfer function has three poles at s=0, −1 and
−5. It doesn’t have any zero. Therefore, the number of root locus branches is
equal to the number of poles of the open loop transfer function.

N=P=3

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The three poles are located are shown in the above figure. The line segment
between s=−1 and s=0 is one branch of root locus on real axis. And the other
branch of the root locus on the real axis is the line segment to the left of s=−5.

Step 2 − We will get the values of the centroid and the angle of asymptotes by
using the given formulae.

Centroid  =−2

The angle of asymptotes are θ=600, 1800 and 3000.

The centroid and three asymptotes are shown in the following figure.

Step 3 − Since two asymptotes have the angles of 600 and 3000, two root locus
branches intersect the imaginary axis. By using the Routh array method and
special case(ii), the root locus branches intersects the imaginary axis at j–√5
and −j√–5.

There will be one break-away point on the real axis root locus branch between
the poles s=−1 and s=0. By following the procedure given for the calculation of
break-away point, we will get it as s=−0.473.

The root locus diagram for the given control system is shown in the following
figure.

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In this way, you can draw the root locus diagram of any control system and
observe the movement of poles of the closed loop transfer function.

From the root locus diagrams, we can know the range of K values for different
types of damping.

Effects of Adding Open Loop Poles and Zeros on Root Locus

The root locus can be shifted in ‘s’ plane by adding the open loop poles and the
open loop zeros.

 If we include a pole in the open loop transfer function, then some of root
locus branches will move towards right half of ‘s’ plane. Because of this, the
damping ratio δ decreases. Which implies, damped frequency ωd increases
and the time domain specifications like delay time td, rise time tr and peak
time tp decrease. But, it affects the system stability.
 If we include a zero in the open loop transfer function, then some of root
locus branches will move towards left half of ‘s’ plane. So, it will increase the
control system stability. In this case, the damping ratio δ increases. Which
implies, damped frequency ωd decreases and the time domain specifications
like delay time td, rise time tr and peak time tp increase.

So, based on the requirement, we can include (add) the open loop poles or
zeros to the transfer function.

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