Lecture VIII: Root Locus

Dec 2016
Root locus definition
 The closed-loop poles are the roots of the characteristic equation

 A simple method for finding the roots of the characteristic equation

has been developed by W. R. Evans and used extensively in control
engineering

 Root-locus method is a graphical method for examining how the

roots of a system change with variation of a certain system
parameter

 The root locus is the path of the roots of the characteristic equation
traced out in the s-plane as a system parameter (K) is changed
Root locus design rules
Rule 1:Starting and Ending point of root locus
 Consider the following

 Identify the characteristics equation

Root locus design rules
 When

 When , this collapses to . Loci must begin from closed loop poles.
Root locus design rules
 When

 Thus Loci must end at open loop pole.

 The root locus begins at the finite and infinite poles of G(s)H(s) and
ends at the finite and infinite zeros of G(s)H(s).
Root locus design rules
 Example of Rule 1:

 The root locus begins at the finite poles at -1 and -2 and ends at the finite6
zeros at -3 and -4.
Root locus design rules
 Example of Rule 1
 There are more OL poles and OL zeros. Thus, there must be zeros at
infinity.

3 zeros at
infinity

7
Root locus design rules
Rule 2: Angle and Magnitude Conditions
 Consider the system shown in following figure

 The closed loop transfer function is

C ( s) G(s)

R( s) 1  G ( s) H ( s)
Root locus design rules
 The characteristic equation for this closed-loop system is obtained
by setting the denominator equal to zero.

1  G ( s) H ( s)  0
 Or
G ( s ) H ( s )  1
 Here we assume that is a ratio of polynomials in .

 can be split into angle and magnitude part

Root locus design rules
Angle condition

G( s) H ( s)  180 (2k  1) (k  0,1,2,3...)

The angle of is any odd multiple of 180°

Magnitude condition

G( s) H ( s)  1

Magnitude condition can be used to find K only when a point in s-plane is

confirmed for its existence on the root locus by the use of angle condition
Root locus design rules
 The values of s that fulfil both the angle and magnitude conditions
are the roots of the characteristic equation, or the closed-loop poles.

 Take an example

K
G( s) H ( s) 
s ( s  1)( s  2)
Example
 Take an example

K
G(s) H (s) 
s ( s  1)( s  2)
Example
 For example to check whether is on the root locus or not we can
apply angle condition as follows

G(s) s0.25  K s0.25  s s0.25  (s 1) s0.25  (s  2) s0.25

G(s) s0.25  (0.25)  (0.75)  (1.75)

G(s) s0.25  180  0  0

Example
 And the Magnitude condition becomes
K
G (s)  1
s ( s  1)( s  2 )

K
1
s ( s  1)( s  2) s  0.25

K
1
( 0.25)( 0.25  1)( 0.25  2) s  0.25
Example
K
1
(  0 .25 )(  0 .25  1)(  0 .25  2 ) s   0 .25

K
1
(  0 .25 )( 0 .75 )(1 .75 )

K
1
 0 . 3285

K
1
0 . 328

K  0.328
 Root locus design rules
 Given an Equation, locate the open-loop poles and zeros in s-plane

Pole-Zero Map
1

0.5

Imaginary Axis
0

K
G ( s) H ( s)  -0.5
s ( s  1)( s  2)

-1
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2
Real Axis
Root locus design rules
Determine the root loci on the real
axis

To determine the root loci on real

axis we select some test points.
e.g: p (on positive real axis).
1

The angle condition is not satisfied.

Hence, there is no root locus on the

positive real axis.
Root locus design rules
Determine the root loci on the real
axis
Next, select a test point on the

negative real axis between 0 and –1.

The angle condition is satisfied.

Hence, there is root locus on the

negative real axis between 0 and -1
Root locus design rules
Determine the root loci on the real
axis
Next, select a test point on the

negative real axis between -1 and –2.

The angle condition is not satisfied.

Hence, there is no root locus on the

negative real axis between -1 and -2
Root locus design rules
Determine the root loci on the real
axis

Similarly, test point on the negative

real axis between -3 and – ∞ satisfies
the angle condition.

Therefore, the negative real axis

between -3 and – ∞ is part of the root
locus.
Root locus design rules
Rule 3: The root locus exists on the real axis to the left of an odd
number of poles and zeros.
Root locus design rules
Rule 4: The root locus approaches straight lines as asymptotes

Determine the asymptotes of the root loci.

Where
 n-----> number of poles

 m-----> number of zeros

 180(2k  1)
Angle of asymptotes   
nm
K
G (s) H ( s) 
s( s  1)( s  2)

 180(2k  1)
For this Transfer Function

30
Root locus design rules
 Determine the asymptotes of the root loci.

  60 when k  0
 180 when k  1

 There are three asymptotes having angles 60°, –60°, 180°. ()

 Before we can draw these asymptotes in the complex plane, we

must find the point where they intersect the real axis.
Root locus design rules
 Determine the asymptotes of the root loci.

 Point of intersection of asymptotes on real axis (or centroid of

asymptotes) can be find as out

 poles   zeros

nm
Root locus design rules
 For K
G(s) H ( s) 
s( s  1)( s  2)

(0  1  2)  0

30

3
  1
3
Root locus design rules
 Determine the asymptotes of the root loci.

  60 ,60 , 180

  1
Root locus design rules
Questions
 Consider following unity feedback system.

 Determine
◦ Root loci on real axis
◦ Angle of asymptotes
◦ Centroid of asymptotes
Root locus design rules
 Rule 5: Real-axis Breakaway and Break-in Points

 If the root locus on the real axis lies in the interval between two open-
loop poles, there will always be a break-away point between the poles
where the root locus leaves the real axis

 A breakaway point is the point on a real axis segment of the root locus
between two real poles where the two real closed-loop poles meet and
diverge to become complex conjugates

 Because the closed-loop poles originate from open-loop poles (when K

= 0), a breakaway point will correspond to the point of maximum K
along the real-axis segment
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point

 If the root locus on the real axis lies in the interval between two
open-loop zeros, there will always be a break-in point between the
zeros where the root locus enters the real axis

 A break-in point is the point on a real axis segment of the root locus
between two real zeros where two real closed-loop complex
conjugate zeros meet and diverge to become real.

 Similarly, a break-in point will correspond to the point of minimum

K on the real axis segment between the two zeros.
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point

 If the root locus on the real axis lies in the interval between an open-
loop pole and an open-loop zero, there may or may not be break
points between the pole and zero.

 If there are break points in this case, there will always be two break
points, a break-in point and a break-away point.
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point

 The breakaway or break-in points can be determined from the roots of

dK
0
ds
 It should be noted that not all the solutions of correspond to actual
breakaway points.

 If a point at which is on a root locus, it is an actual breakaway or break-

in point.

 Stated differently, if at a point at which the value of K takes a real

positive value, then that point is an actual breakaway or break-in point
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point
K
G( s) H ( s) 
s( s  1)( s  2)
 The characteristic equation of the system is
K
1  G( s) H ( s)  1  0
s ( s  1)( s  2)

K
 1
s( s  1)( s  2)

K  s( s  1)( s  2)

Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point

 The breakaway point can now be determined as

dK d
  s( s  1)(s  2)
ds ds
dK d
  s( s  1)( s  2)
ds ds
dK
ds

d 3
ds

s  3s 2  2s 
dK
 3s 2  6s  2
ds
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point

 Set
 3s 2  6s  2  0
3s 2  6s  2  0

s  0.4226
 1.5774

 Since the breakaway point must lie on a root locus between 0 and –
1, it is clear that corresponds to the actual breakaway point.
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point

 Point is not on the root locus. Hence, this point is not an actual
breakaway or break-in point.

 In fact, evaluation of the values of K corresponding to and yields

Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point

 Since K is assumed to be nonnegative, if the value of K thus

obtained is negative or a complex quantity, then the respective value
of is neither a breakaway nor break-in point
Root locus design rules
 Determine the breakaway point and break-in point
Example
 Determine the Breakaway and break in points

 Answer
Root locus design rules
 Rule 6: Angle of departure and arrival

 The angle of departure is the angle at which the locus leaves a pole
in the s-plane.

 The angle of arrival is the angle at which the locus arrives at a zero
in the s-plane
Root locus design rules
 Determine the angle of departure and arrival for complex poles or
zeros (not always needed)

 The presence of a pair of complex-conjugate open-loop poles

requires the determination of the angle of departure from these
poles.

 Knowledge of this angle is important, since the root locus near a

complex pole yields information as to whether the locus originating
from the complex pole migrates toward the real axis or extends
toward the asymptote
Root locus design rules
 Determine the angle of departure and arrival for complex poles or
zeros (not always needed)

 Further refinement of the Root Locus may be made by computing

the angle at which the branches of the locus depart from the open-
loop poles, and arrive at the open-loop zeros.
Root locus design rules
 Determine the angle of departure and arrival for complex poles or
zeros (not always needed)

 The angle of departure from a pole is given by (Taking angles of

poles to be negative and angles of zeros to be positive)
)

OR
 The angle of departure from a pole is given by (Taking all angles to
be positive)
)
Root locus design rules
 Determine the angle of departure and arrival for complex poles or
zeros (not always needed)

 The angle of arrival to a zero is given by (Taking angles of poles to

be negative and angles of zeros to be positive)
)

OR
 The angle of arrival to a zero is given by (Taking all angles to be
positive)
)
Example
 Find the angle of departure at the pole for the closed-loop system
where
Example
 In the above figure , . The angle of departure is therefore
Root locus design rules
 Rule 7: The crossing

 Determine the points where root loci cross the imaginary axis
(transition to instability)

 These are important since they tell you what gain makes the system
go unstable. These points can be found by use of Routh’s stability
criterion

 Since the characteristic equation for the present system is

Root locus design rules
 Determine the points where root loci cross the imaginary axis
(transition to instability)

 The Routh Array Becomes

Root locus design rules
 Determine the points where root loci cross the imaginary axis
(transition to instability)

 The value(s) of K that makes the system marginally stable is 6

 The crossing points on the imaginary axis can then be found by

solving the auxiliary equation obtained from the row, that is

 Which yields
Root locus design rules
 Determine the points where root loci cross the imaginary axis
(transition to instability)

 An alternative approach is to let in the characteristic equation,

equate both the real part and the imaginary part to zero, and then
solve for and

 For present system the characteristic equation is

s 3  3s 2  2s  K  0
( j )3  3( j ) 2  2 j  K  0
( K  3 2 )  j (2   3 )  0
Root locus design rules
 Determine the points where root loci cross the imaginary axis
(transition to instability)

 Equating both real and imaginary parts of this equation to zero

(2   3 )  0

( K  3 2 )  0
 Which yields
Root locus design rules
 Determine the points where root loci cross the imaginary axis
(transition to instability)
Root locus design rules
 To complete the Root Locus, raw the rest of the locus by connecting
the poles with the breakpoints, axis-crossing, asymptotes and arrival
angles
Root locus plot with damping ratio
 Consider following unity feedback system

 Determine the value of K such that the damping ratio of a pair of

dominant complex-conjugate closed-loop poles is 0.5

K
G(s) H (s) 
s( s  1)( s  2)
Root locus plot with damping ratio
 The damping ratio of 0.5 corresponds to

  cos

  cos1 

  cos1 (0.5)  60

 Closed-loop poles with damping ratio of 0.5 lie on lines passing

through the origin and making the angles of with the negative real
axis
Root locus plot with damping ratio
 Let’s assume that a pole

 From the damping ratio, , which means

 To be on the root locus, the pole p should satisfy

Root locus plot with damping ratio
 Separating real and imaginary parts as

But
Root locus plot with damping ratio
 The third closed loop pole at can be obtained as

K
1  G(s) H (s)  1  0
s ( s  1)( s  2)

1.0383
1 0
s ( s  1)( s  2)

s ( s  1)( s  2)  1.0383  0
Example
 Sketch the root loci of the control system shown

 The open-loop poles are located at .

 A root locus branch exists on the real axis between the origin and
Example
 Angle of asymptotes

 Breakpoint
Example
 Angle of departure at

 The points where root-locus branches cross the imaginary axis be

found by substituting into the characteristic equation and solving
the equation for and K
Example
Example
 Sketch the root loci for the system shown

 The open-loop poles are located at

 Breakpoints

 Point s = -0.467 is on a root locus. Therefore, it is an actual

breakaway point.
Example
 Angle of departure

 The points where root loci may cross the axis.

Example
Questions
 Sketch the root loci for the system shown

 Sketch the root loci for the system shown

Questions
 Sketch the root locus for the system with the characteristic equation
of
Root Loci for Positive-Feedback
Systems
 Transfer function is given as

 The characteristic equation is

 The angle condition, however, must be altered

Root Loci for Positive-Feedback
Systems
 The Root Locus exists for positive-feedback systems to the left of an
even number of real-axis finite open-loop poles or zeros.

 Note: 0 is also an even number

 Angles of asymptotes is given as

 When calculating the angle of departure (or angle of arrival) from a

complex open-loop pole (or at a complex zero), subtract from 0" the
sum of all angles of the vectors from all the other poles and zeros to
the complex pole (or complex zero) in question, with appropriate
signs included.
Root Loci for Positive-Feedback
Systems
 Other rules for constructing the root-locus plot remain the same.
Example
 To illustrate the root-locus plot for the positive-feedback system, we
shall use the following transfer functions and as an example

 Plot the open-loop poles and zero () in the complex p1ane. As K is

increased from 0 to , the closed-loop poles start at the open-loop
poles and terminate at the open-loop zeros (finite or infinite), just as
in the case of negative-feedback systems
Example
 Determine the root loci on the real axis. Root loci exist on the real
axis betweenand and between and

 Determine the asymptotes of the root loci. For the present system,

 Determine the breakaway and break-in points. Since the

characteristic equation is
Example
 We obtain

 Point is on the root locus. Since this point lies between two zeros (a
finite zero and an infinite zero), it is an actual break-in point. Points
do not satisfy the angle condition and, therefore, they are neither
breakaway nor break-in points.
Example
 Find the angle of departure of the root locus from a complex pole.
For the complex pole at , the angle of departure is
Ques
 Given

 find the values of or and K that will yield a second order closed-
loop pair of poles at .
Ques
 Given a unity feedback system:

 Do the following:
◦ Sketch the root locus
◦ Find the imaginary crossing
◦ Find the gain K, at the imaginary crossing
◦ Find the break in point
◦ Find the angle of departure from the complex poles
Ques
 Given a unity feedback system:

 Do the following:
◦ Sketch the root locus
◦ Find the imaginary crossing
◦ Find the gain K, at the imaginary crossing
◦ Find the break in point
◦ Find the point where the locus crosses the 0.5 damping ratio line
◦ Find the gain at the point where the locus crosses the 0.5 damping ratio
line
◦ Find the range of gain K for which the system is stable
Ques
 Given a unity feedback system:

 Do the following:
◦ Sketch the root locus
◦ For what range of K will the poles be in the right half-plane?
Ques
 Given a unity feedback system:

 Do the following:
◦ Sketch the root locus
◦ Also find the breakaway points, the -axis crossing, and the range
of gain for stability for each case. Find the angles of arrival for
Part a.
Ques
 For the plot shown below, sketch the root locus and find break in
point: