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DerivationofRootLocusRules

Overview Why? Derivations Examples RulesTable RLocusGui Printable

Thisdocumentwilldiscussthederivationofrulesforsketchingtherootlocus.Itisnotnecessarytounderstand
alloftheseinordertodothesketches,butitcanbehelpfultounderstandwhencecomethevariousrules.Instead
ofpresentingexamplesinthisdocument,therearelinkstofilesthatcontainfiveseparateexamples.Aftereach
rule,youcanselectthelinkforeachofthefiveexamples,andtheapplicationofthatspecificruletotheselected
ruleisdisplayed(alongwithabriefdiscussion).Eachofthefiveexamplescanalsobeexaminedinitsentiretyby
clickingonthelinkbelow.
Examples(ClicktoseerootlocusforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Note:theexamplefilesareeditedversionsofwebpagesgeneratedautomaticallywithaMatLabscript,RLocusGui.

Tosketcharootlocusthereareseveraltechniquesthatcanbeusedasaguide.Notalloftheseareapplicable
toallloci.Thestepsusedtosketcharootlocusplotareenumeratedbelow:

GatherBackgroundInformationfromTransferFunction
Rules
1.Symmetry
2.NumberofBranches
3.StartingandEndingPoints
4.LocusonRealAxis
5.Asymptotesas|s|
6.BreakAwayandInPoints
7.AngleofDeparture
8.AngleofArrival
9.LocusCrossesImaginaryAxis
GivenGain"K,"DetermineLocationofPoles
GivenPoleLocation,DetermineValueof"K"

GetBackgroundInformationfromTransferFunction
Theclosedlooptransferfunctionofthesystemshown
is


Sothecharacteristicequationis

Wecanwritetheloopgainasaratioofpolynomials,(wewillassumeK>0,a0>0,b0>0generallya0=1).N(s),the

numeratorpolynomial,isdefinedtobemthorderD(s)isnthorder.N(s)haszerosatz i(i=1..m)D(s)haszerosat
pi(i=1..n).NotethezerosofD(s)arethepolesoftheloopgain.Thedifferencebetweentheordersofthe
numeratoranddenominatorpolynomial,nandm,isq,soq=nm.Weassumeherethatthetransferfunctionis
properinotherwordsq0.
,

orwecanwritetheloopgaininitsfactoredform:

AsKchanges,sodolocationsofclosedlooppoles(i.e.,zerosofcharacteristicequation).

Itisconvenientforthederivationofmanyoftherulesthatfollowtorewritethecharacteristicequationas
follows.

Manyoftherulesdiscussedbelowcomefromtwoconditionsimposedbythecharacteristicequation.Sincethis
equationinvolvesacomplexquantityboththemagnitudeandphaseofthetwosidesoftheequationmustbe
equal.

Themagnitudeconditionisexpressedas

SinceK0,wecanrewritethisas

Thephaseangleisexpressedas

SinceK0,ithasaphaseof0andcanbeignored.Theangleof1isanyoddmultipleof180.

KeyConcept:TheMagnitudeandAngleConditions
MagnitudeCondition PhaseCondition

Note:analternatesetofrules,forK<0canbederivedthisisreferredtoasthecomplementaryrootlocus.

KeyConcept:PropertiesofOpenLoopGainUsedtoDrawRootLocus

TheloopgainisKG(s)H(s)whichcanberewrittenasKN(s)/D(s).

N(s),thenumeratorpolynomial,ismthorderD(s)isn thorder:

K>0,a 0>0,b 0>0.


N(s)haszerosatzi(i=1..m)D(s)haszerosatp i(i=1..n):

Thedifferencebetweennandmisq,soq=nm.

Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rules

Rule1:Symmetry
Sincethecharacteristicequationhasrealcoefficients,anyzerosmustoccurincomplexconjugatepairs(which
aresymmetricabouttherealaxis).Sincetherootlocusisjustadiagramoftherootsofthecharacteristicequation
asKvaries,itmustalsobesymmetricabouttherealaxis.

KeyConcept:Rule1SymmetryofRootLocus

TheRootlocusissymmetricabouttherealaxis.


Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule2:NumberofBranches
SincetherootlocusisjustadiagramoftherootsofthecharacteristicequationasKvaries,andtheorderofthe
characteristicequationisthesameasthatofthedenominatoroftheloopgain,thenumberofbranchesisn,the
orderofthedenominatorpolynomial.

KeyConcept:Rule2NumberofBranchesofRootLocus
Thenumberofbranchesoftherootlocusisequaltotheorderofcharacteristicequation.


Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule3:StartingandEndingPoints
Startfromthemagnitudecondition:
ItisapparentthatifK0,theonlywaythelefthandsideoftheequationcanbeequalto1isifthequantityinthe
absolutevaluegoestoinfinity.ThishappenswhenD(s)0.Sothepolesoftheloopgain(D(s)=0)arethestarting
pointsfortheloci(whenK=0).

ItisalsoapparentthatifK,theonlywaythelefthandsideoftheequationcanbeequalto1isifthequantity
intheabsolutevaluegoestozero.ThishappenswhenN(s)0,anditalsohappensassiftheorderofthe
denominatorisgreaterthantheorderofthenumerator.Sothezerosoftheloopgain(whichoccuratN(s)=0,and
perhapsass)aretheendingpointsfortheloci(whenK).

KeyConcept:Rule3StartingandEndingPointsofRootLocus
Thelocusstarts(whenK=0)atpolesoftheloopgain,andends(whenK)atthezeros.Note:there
areqzerosoftheloopgainass.


Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule4:LocusonRealAxis
Startfromtheanglecondition:

Writeouttheratioofpolynomials:

Wewilltakea0>0,b0>0(generallya0=1),so:

Sotheanglecriterioncanberestatedas:

Nowconsidertheanglebetweenapoint"s"(theredvector)ontherealaxis,andapoint"z"(thebluevector)
thatisalsoontherealaxis.Thediagramsbelowshowthevector"sz"f(thegreenvector)orthecasewhen"s"is
totheleftof"z,"andwhensistotherightofz.(Review:Howtosubtractvectors).

Inbothfigures,"s"isshownbyaredvector,and"z"isshownbyabluevector.Thedifferencecanbefoundby
drawingavectorfromthepoint"z"tothepoint"s,"whichisshownbyagreenvector.When"s"istotheleftof"z"
(leftdiagram),theangleofthevector"sz"is180(oranyoddmultipleof180).When"s"istotherightof"z"
(rightdiagram),theangleofthevector"sz"is0(oranyevenmultipleof180).

However,westillneedtoconsidercomplexconjugatepolesandzeros.Toseetheircontribution,considerthe
diagrambelow.

Inthisdiagramthevector"s"isred,"z"anditsconjugate"z*"areblueand"sz"and"sz*"aregreen.Clearlythe
anglecontributionsfrom"z"anditsconjugate"z*"(shownindottedgreen)areequalandopposite,andsocancel
eachotherout.Thereforeweneednotconsiderthecontributionofcomplexconjugatezeros,orpolesweneed
onlyconsiderthecontributionofzerosandpolesthatareontherealaxis.

Nowreconsiderourstatementoftheanglecriterion:
Thisequationindicatesthatanyzerostotheleftofaquantity"s"ontherealaxiscontributes180,apoletothe
leftwillcontribute180,butapoleorzerototherightof"s"ontherealaxiscontributes0.Sincethesumof
anglecontributionsfromzerosontherealaxisminusthesumofcontributionsfrompolesontherealaxisisan
oddmultipleof180,thisindicatesthatifapoint"s"ontherealaxiswillonlybeonthelocusifitistotheleftofan
oddnumberofzerosandpolesthatareontheaxis.

KeyConcept:Rule4RootLocusonRealAxis
Thelocusexistsonrealaxistotheleftofanoddnumberofpolesandzerosontheaxis.


Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule5:Asymptotesas|s|(Thisisthemostinvolvedderivation,youmaywishtoskipit)
Ifq>0(inotherwords,thedenominatorpolynomialoftheloopgainisofhigherorderthanisthenumerator),then
theloopgainhasqzerosas|s|.Wewillshowthatwecanmakesomesimpleapproximationsthatwill
describethebehavioroftheclosedlooppolesas|s|.Ifq=0,youneednotdothisstep.

Asimpleapproximationtogetangleofasymptotes
Firstwewilldoaverysimpleapproximationtostudybehavioroftherootlocusas|s|.Considerthe
characteristicequation.

Wecanrewritethis,andthenifwelet|s|,allbutthehighestordertermsofthepolynomialsgobecome
insignificant.

Nowwecanapplytheanglecriterion

Nowwecanwrite"s"as

andcompletethederivation

K,a0,b0andMareallpositivesotheydon'tcontributetotheangle,so


Tosummarize:as|s|,thelociareasymptotictoasetoflinesthatthatradiateoutwardfromtheorigin

withanglesof=r180/qwherer=1,3,5...

Aside:GraphicalRepresentationof

Ifthisisn'tobvious,considerapositivenumber,,with

Nowusethepolarformof"s,"

andweget

Sincethenumberiscomplex,boththemagnitudeandphasemustbeequal.

Considerfirstthemagnitude.

Thistellsusthatasgoesfrom0toinfinity,sodoesthemagnitudeof"s."

Nowconsiderthephase.

Thistellsusthattheangleof"s"isgivenbyr180/q,wherer=1,3,5...

Takingboththemagnitudeandphaseintoconsiderationthisshowsthat

isrepresentslinesemanatingfromtheoriginatequallyspacedanglesasgoesfrom0to.

Abetterapproximationtogetbothangleandrealaxisintersectofasymptotes
Intheapproximationabove,wekeptonlythehighestordertermofthenumeratoranddenominator
polynomialas|s|.Wecangetabetterapproximationifwekeepthetwohighestorderterms.Let'sstart
withthefactoredformoftheloopgain,andmultiplyitout:

Aside:Approximationofpolynomialas|s|
Ihaveonlywrittenoutthetwohighestordertermsofthepolynomial.Ifthesecondterminthe
polynomialisnotobvious,thenexaminingthecaseofathirdorderpolynomialshouldmakeit
obvious.

(Theequationonthesecondlineagreeswithourresult.)

Nowlet'sdosomemanipulationstogetthisintoamoreusefulform.First,welet|s|andonlykeepthe
twohighestordertermsofthepolynomials.

Wecanmultiplythenumeratoranddenominatorbythesameterm.Thissimplifiesthenumerator.

Notethatthesecondterminthenumeratorpolynomialissmall,sowecanusethebinomialapproximation.
Keeponlythehighestordertermsfromthedenominatorpolynomial(since|s|):

Nowwenotethatapolynomialwithrepeatedrootsisgivenby

Aside:Approximationof

Again,ifthisisn'tobvious,considerthethirdordercase(whichgeneralizestohigherorder):

As|s|wecan,again,simplifythisbykeepingonlythehighestorderterm

Thisisexpressionhasthesameformastheoneinthedenominatoroftheexpressionwejustderived(i.e.,
loopgainas|s|).Wecanmakethesubstitution:

ourexpressionfortheloopgainas|s|becomes

Puttingthisbackintoourexpressionforthecharacteristicequationweget(as|s|):
Thisrepresentsasetofvectorsthatintersecttherealaxisats=,thatradiateoutwardwithanglesof=
r180/qwherer=1,3,5...

Aside:Graphicalrepresentationof ass.

Since

representslinesemanatingfromtheoriginatequallyspacedanglesasgoesfrom0to,then
theexpression

isjustshiftedby.Inotherwords,itrepresentslinesemanatingfromatequallyspaceangles.

Thistellsusthatthelocusisasymptotictotheselinesbecauseboththelocusand(s)qhavethesame
formas|s|.

KeyConcept:Rule5AsymptotesoftheRootLocusas|s|
Ifq>0thereareasymptotesoftherootlocus,and...

asymptotesintersectrealaxisat ,

asymptotesradiateoutwithangles ,wherer=1,3,5


Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule6:BreakAwayandInPoints
Tofindwherethelocusbreaksawayfromtheaxis(orconvergesontheaxis),wenotethatthisalwaysoccurs
whentwo(ormore)rootsintersect.Itisawellknowfact,thatwhenapolynomialhasmultipleroots,notonlyisthe
valueofthepolynomialzero,butitsderivativeiszeroalso(Background).

Startbyconsideringthecharacteristicequation

Atthebreakaway(andin)points,thederivativeofthecharacteristicequationisalsozero.
Ifwesimplifythisweget:

Iprefertoswitchtheorderofthesubtraction(thoughitreallymakesnodifference),
.

KeyConcept:Rule6BreakAwayandBreakInPointsonRealAxis
Therearebreakawayorinpointsofthelocusontherealaxiswherever
.

Note:Manytimes,especiallyforsimplerootloci,therearenobreakawayorbreakinpoints.Inthesecases,thisstepisnotnecessary.


Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule7:AngleofDeparturefromComplexPole
Iftheloopgain,G(s)H(s),hasasimplepoleontherealaxis,weknowthatthelocuswillleavefromthepole,as
K0,alongtheaxis.However,ifthepoleiscomplexitcanleaveatanyangle.Tofindtheangleatwhichthe
locusleavesacomplexpole,westartfromtherestatedanglecriterion(fromthe"LocusonRealAxis"rule):

Tofindtheangleatwhichthelocusleavesfromthepolepj,wecanrewritetheanglecriterionbyisolatingtheangle
betweenthelocusandpj.

or

Inthisequationwehavetakenr=1sincethesolutionsarethesameforallvaluesofr.Nowifweconsiderapoint
"s"onthelocusthatisveryclosetopj,thenallthetermsontherighthandsidecanbeapproximatedbytheangle
betweenthepoleorzeroandpj.Inotherwords,if"s"isveryclosetopj,thenwecanapproximatetheangle
criterionas:

Thisisdemonstratedbyanexample,belowwhichshowsaRootLocusplotofafunctionG(s)H(s)thathasone
zeroats=1,andthreepolesats=2,ands=1j.:
Tofindtheangleofdeparturefromthepoleats=1+j(whichwewillcallp2),wechooseapointonthelocusvery
nearp2andthenfindtheanglesfromthezeroandtheotherpoles.

Theangleofdeparture(135)isshowningreyonthediagram.

KeyConcept:Rule7AngleofDeparturefromComplexPoles
Theangleofdeparturefromacomplexpole,p j,is180degrees+(sumofanglesbetweenp jandall
zeros)(sumofanglesbetweenp jandallotherpoles).

Note:Manytimes,especiallyforsimplerootloci,therearenocomplexpolesinloopgain.Inthesecases,thisstepisnotnecessary.


Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule8:AngleofArrivalatComplexZero
Thisfollowscloselythederivationforthepreviousrule("AngleofDeparture")andwillbebrief.

Iftheloopgain,G(s)H(s),hasasimplezeroontherealaxis,weknowthatthelocuswillarriveatthezero,as
K,alongtheaxis.However,ifthezeroiscomplexitcanarriveatanyangle.Tofindtheangleatwhichthe
locusarrivesatacomplexzero,westartfromtherestatedanglecriterion(fromthe"LocusonRealAxis"rule):
Tofindtheangleatwhichthelocusarrivesfromthepolez j,wecanrewritetheanglecriterionas

or

Inthisequationwehavetakenr=1sincethesolutionsarethesameforallvaluesofr.Nowifweconsiderapoint
"s"onthelocusthatisveryclosetoz j,thenallthetermsontherighthandsidecanbeapproximatedbytheangle
betweenthepoleorzeroandz j.Inotherwords,if"s"isveryclosetoz j,thenwecanapproximatetheangle
criterionas:

KeyConcept:Rule8AngleofArrivalatComplexZeros
Theangleofarrivalatacomplexpole,zj,is180degrees+(sumofanglesbetweenzjandallother
zeros)(sumofanglesbetweenzjandallpoles).

Note:Manytimes,especiallyforsimplerootloci,therearenocomplexzerosinloopgain.Inthesecases,thisstepisnotnecessary.
Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

Rule9:LocusCrossesImaginaryAxis
Ifitbecomesapparentthattherootlocuscrossestheimaginaryaxis(i.e.,itisunstableforsomevaluesofK),
useatechniquesuchasRouthHorwitztofindwherethelocuscrossestheimaginaryaxis(i.e.,thefrequencyof
oscillationwhenitbecomesunstable).

KeyConcept:Rule9FindWhereLocusCrossesImaginaryAxis
UseRouthHorwitztodeterminewherethelocuscrossestheimaginaryaxis.

Note:Manytimes,especiallyforsimplerootloci,therootlocusdoesnotcrosstheimaginaryaxis,ordoessoalongtherealaxis.Inthese
cases,thisstepisnotnecessary.
Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

GivenGain"K,"DetermineLocationofPoles
Recallthatthecharacteristicequationcanbewrittenintheform:
or

Thevaluesa0...anandb0...bmareallknown.SogivenavalueofKwecandeterminetheresultingpolynomial
andfactorittofindtherootsofthecharacteristicequation(thismayrequireacomputer).

KeyConcept:FindLocationofClosedLoopPolesfromValueof"K"
RewritecharacteristicequationasD(s)+KN(s)=0.PutvalueofKintoequation,andfindrootsof
characteristicequation.

Note:Manytimesthisstepisnotnecessary.
Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5

GivenPoleLocation,DetermineValueof"K"
Recallthatthecharacteristicequationcanbewrittenintheform:

or

So,givenavalueof"s"thatisonthelocus,itispossibletosolveforthecorrespondingvalueofK.

Notethatifthevalueof"s"isobtainedbyinspectionofarootlocusplot,itisonlyapproximate.Ifthechosen
valuedoesnotactuallylieonthelocus,theresultingvalueofKmaybecomplex.Ifthishappens,theimaginary
partwillbesmall,sojusttaketheimaginarypartofK.YoushouldthenusethisvalueofK(seeabove)tofindthe
exactvalueoftherootlocation.

KeyConcept:FindValueof"K"fromLocationofClosedLoopPole

Rewritecharacteristicequationas ,replace"s"bythedesiredpolelocationandsolve

forK.

Note:Manytimesthisstepisnotnecessary,especiallywhenthetaskissimplytodrawtherootlocus.

Examples(ClicktoseeruleexplainedforeachTransferFunction)
1 2 3 4 5
References

Copyright2005to2015ErikCheeverThispagemaybefreelyusedforeducationalpurposes.
Comments?Questions?Suggestions?Corrections?
ErikCheeverDepartmentofEngineeringSwarthmoreCollege

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