Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.

)
Menschen für Menschen Foundation
Agro – Technical and Technology College
Electrical and Electronics Technology Department
 CHAPTER – FIVE
ROOT LOCUS ANALYSIS
OBJECTIVES: At the end of this chapter students will be able to:
❑ Know simple method for finding the roots of the
characteristic equation.

❑ Study a powerful graphical method for the analysis and design

of an LTI control system.

❑ Discuss the techniques used to show the degree of stability

of a stable system.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 1

5.1. Introduction to Root Locus
❑ It was introduced by W. R. Evans in 1946
❑ Is a powerful graphical method used for the Analysis and Design of a
Control System.

❑ Plot of the roots of the characteristic equation of the closed loop system as
a function of gain(K).

❑ This method of analysis not only indicates whether a system is stable or

unstable but also shows the degree of stability of a stable system.

❑ The effect of adjusting the closed loop gain of the system on its stability can
be studied by root locus method of stability analysis.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 2

5.1.1. Advantages of Root Locus Technique
❑ It gives a clear idea about the effect of variable loop gain adjustment
with relatively small effort.

❑ The stability of the system can be understood clearly.

❑ It gives an idea about the transient response of the system, i.e., whether
the system is over-damped, under-damped or critically damped.

❑ It helps in designing the system accurately by selecting gain K for a

particular damping ratio 𝜉.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 3

5.2. The Root Locus Concept
5.2.1. Direct Solution of the Characteristic Equation
❑ Consider a second order system shown below in Fig below

❑ The open-loop transfer function of the system is given as,

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 4

❑ The closed-loop transfer function of the system is

❑ The characteristic equation of the system is

❖ The second order system as above will be stable for positive values of 𝑎 and K.
❖ Its dynamic behavior will be controlled by the roots of the characteristic equation.
Roots of the characteristic equation are:

❑ If we vary K from zero to infinity, the two roots (s1, s2) will describe a loci in the s-plane.
❑ The root locations for different values of K will change.

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 ❑ By examining the values of roots, i.e. s1 and s2 as above we observe that:

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 ❑ The root loci drawn for changing values of K has been shown in Figure below.

❑ The root locus indicates the following system behavior.

❖ The root locus plot has two branches starting at the two open-loop poles
(s = 0 and s =-a) when the value of gain K is 0
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 ❑ As K is increased from 0 to a2/4, the root loci move along the real axis towards
the point from opposite directions.

❖ The system will behave as an Overdamped system.

𝑎2 −𝑎 −𝑎
❖ At 𝐾 = the roots are , , at this value of K the system will
4 2 2
behave as Critically damped system.

𝑎2 −𝑎
❑ At 𝐾 > the roots become complex with real part equal to
4 2
❖ The roots are break away from the real axis, become complex conjugate
−𝑎
and move towards infinity along the vertical line at 𝜎 =
2
❖ The loci move away from the real axis, the system becomes
Underdamped.
❖ The settling time is nearly constant as the real part is constant.
Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 8
5.2.2. Angle and Magnitude Conditions
❑ For higher order systems, the direct solution will become complicated and
time consuming.
❑ Consider the negative feedback system shown in Figure

The closed-loop transfer function is

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 9

 ❑ The characteristic equation of the closed-loop system is

a) Magnitude Criterion: The magnitude of the open-loop transfer

function is equal to unity for all the roots of
the characteristic equation.

b) Angle Criterion: The angle of the open-loop transfer function is an

odd integral multiple of 𝜋.

Where, 𝑞 = 0, 1, 2 …
The gain factor K does not affect the angle criterion.
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 ❑ For any point to be on the root locus in the s-plane, it has to satisfy both angle
criterion and magnitude criterion.

❑ The magnitude criterion is checked after confirming the existence of the point on
the root locus by applying the angle criterion.
❑ Let us consider the open loop transfer function given below

Let us examine whether 𝑠 = −0.5 lies on the root locus or not.

First, we apply the angle criterion as

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 11

 Since the angle criterion is satisfied, the point 𝑠 = −0.5 lies on the
root locus.

❑ The magnitude criterion

Thus, for K = 0.375, the point 𝑠 = −0.5 lies on root locus.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 12
5.3. Root Locus Construction Procedure
❑ Root locus is the graphical plot of the poles of a closed loop system with
respect to change in the gain parameter K of the system from 0 to ∞
❑ Root locus always starts from open loop poles and terminate on an open-
loop zero or infinity.

Example 5.1. Sketch the root locus of a control system whose transfer
function is

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 13

 ❑ From the denominator of the open loop transfer function the number of open loop
poles, n = 2 and they are s = 0 and s = -1.
❑ The number of open loop zeros, m = 0.
❑ The closed loop transfer function of the system is

The characteristic equation is

❑ For K > 0.25, the roots are complex conjugates

❑ The root loci starts at 0 and -1, i.e. at the open loop poles.
❑ The number of branches or root loci = Number of open-loop poles
Number of asymptotes = Number of open loop poles – Number of open-loop zeros
In this case, asymptotes = 2 – 0 = 2
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 Determination of Breakaway Points

❑ The two root loci, starting at 0 and -1 respectively approach each other and
breakaway asymptotically at -0.5

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 ❑ The value of K at the breakaway point on the real axis is calculated as

❑ For a value of K = 0.25, the two root loci meet at the real axis at s = -0.5
and breakaway at ∅𝐴 = 90° and 270° asymptotically as K increases beyond
0.25 towards infinity.

Angle of asymptotes (∅𝑨 )

Where n = no. of open loop poles

m = no. of open loop zeros.
q = 0, 1, 2, … (n-m) -1
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 2𝑥1+1 1800
𝜙𝐴 = =2700
2−0

❑ It may be observed that the root locus is symmetrical about the real axis, i.e. 𝜎 axis.
❑ There is no existence of the root locus to the extreme left pole at s = -1 on the real axis.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 17

 5.4. Root Locus Construction Rules
Rule-1: Starting and Termination of Root locus
❑ From the open-loop transfer function, locate the poles and zeros.
❑ Each branch of the root locus originates from an open loop pole with
K= 0 and terminates either on an open-loop zero or at infinity as the
value of K increases from 0 to ∞.

❑ In most cases, we will have more poles than zeros.

❑ If we have n poles and m zeros, and n > m. then n - m branches of
the root locus will reach infinity.

❑ Because the root loci originate at the poles, the number of root loci is
equal to number of poles.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 18

Rule-2: Root Locus on the real axis
❑ The root locus on the real axis always lies in a section of the real axis to
the left of an odd number of poles and zeros

❑ Let the open-loop transfer function of a control system be

𝐾(𝑠 + 1)
𝐺 𝑠 =
𝑠+2
❑ The pole is at s = -2 and the zero is at s = -1 as shown in Fig. below.

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 ❑The root locus will start at 𝑠 = −2 and
terminate at zero at 𝑠 = −1.

❑There is no existence of root locus to the

right of Z and no existence to the left of
P on the real axis (root locus on real
axis exists to the left of odd number
of poles and zeros).

Rule – 3. Symmetry of the root locus

❑ The root loci must be symmetrical about the real axis because the
complex roots appear in pairs.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 20

Rule - 4. The number of asymptotes and their angles with the real axis
❑ The (n - m) branches of root loci move towards infinity.
❖ They do so along straight-line asymptotes.

❑ The angle of asymptotes with respect to the real axis is given by

Where n is the number of poles and m is the number of zeros

Rule – 5. Centroid of the asymptotes

❑ The linear asymptotes are centered at a point on the real axis.
❖ This is called the centroid which is given by the relation:

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 21

 Rule – 6. Breakaway points
❑ The root locus breakaway from the real axis where a number of roots
are available, normally, where two roots exist.

❑ The method of determining the breakaway point is to rearrange the

characteristic equation in terms of K.

❑ We then evaluate dK/ds = 0 in order to find the breakaway point.

❑ Since the characteristic equation can have real as well as complex
multiple roots, its root locus can have real as well as complex
breakaway points.

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 Rule -7. Intersection of the root locus with the imaginary axis
❑ The point at which the locus crosses the imaginary axis, in case it does, is
determined by applying Routh Hurwitz criterion.

❑ The value of K for which the locus crosses the imaginary axis is
calculated by equating the terms in the first column of the Routh array
of s1 and s0 to zero.

Rule – 8. Angle of departure of the root locus

❑ The angle of departure of the locus from a complex pole is calculated as

∅𝑑 = 180° – sum of angles made by vectors drawn from the other poles
to this pole + sum of angles made by vectors drawn from
the zeros to this pole.
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 Let

The poles are at s1=0,s2= -2, s3 = -3+j4,s4=3-j4

There are no zeros
The positions of poles are shown in Fig
The angle of departure of the root locus from
the complex pole at P3 is calculated as

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 24

 Example 5.2: A block diagram representation of a unity feedback control system is
shown below.

For this system sketch the root locus. Also determine the value of K so that the
damping ratio,𝜉 of a pair of complex conjugate closed loop poles is 0.5.
Solution

For determining the open loop poles, we equate the denominator of G(s) to 0

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 a) There are three open loop poles at s = 0, s = -1, and s = -2.
b) The number of root locus asymptotes is equal to number of open loop poles minus
the number of open loop zeros.
❑ There is no open loop zero.
❑ There will be three branches of the root locus originating respectively at
𝑠 = 0, 𝑠 = −1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠 = −2.
c) The root locus exist on the real axis between s = 0, and s = -1; and s = -2 moving
toward ∞
d) The three branches of the root locus will move towards infinity, as K changes, along
the asymptotic lines whose angles with the real axis are

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 e) The centroid, 𝜎𝐴 is calculated as

𝑑𝐾
f) The break away points on the real axis is found by putting = 0.
𝑑𝑠
The characteristic equation is

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 ❑ Intersection of the root locus on the imaginary axis is determined as follows.
❑ The characteristic equation of the system is

The Routh Array is

❑ We know that the occurrence of a zero row in the Routh array indicates the
presence of symmetrically located roots in the s-plane.

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Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 29
 The position of poles, the asymptotes, and the root locus plot have been shown in Fig

Note that for breakaway point at

𝑠 = −1.57, the angle criterion is
not satisfied and hence
Can not be considered.

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 Example 5.3. The open loop transfer function of a control system is given as

Draw the root locus. Determine the value of K for which the system is critically
damped and also the value of K for which the system becomes unstable

Solution
From G(s) H(s) we find, P = 3 and Z = 0. The poles are at s = -1, s = -10, and s = -30.
Since there are three poles there will be three root locus branches.

The asymptotes originate at s = -13.67 and make angles of

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The breakaway point is calculated using the characteristic equation as

❖ The poles are at s = -1, s = -10, and s = -30. the asymptotes are at angles of 60°,
180°, and 300°.
❖ They originate from s = -13.67.
❖ Two root loci originating from s = -1 with K = 0 and s = -10 with K = 0 approach
each other and breakaway at s = -5.1.
❖ The breakaway point at s = -22.2 is discarded because this is not possible.
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The root locus plot has been drawn as shown in Figure
We write the Routh Array for the equation
s3 + 41s2 + 340s + 300 + K = 0

Condition for stability is that

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 Thus, the value of K for which the system will be unstable is 13640 and above.

At s = -5.1, the loci leave the real axis at the breakaway point.
The value of K corresponding to this point of the root locus is the one at which
the system is critically damped. Putting s = -5.1 in the expression for K,

Thus, at K = 500.2, the system is critically damped.

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 34

 Example 5.4: The open-loop transfer function of a feedback control system is given by

Draw the root locus as K varies from 0 to ∞. Also calculate the value of K for
which the system becomes oscillatory
Solution
Number of open loop poles = 4.
They are at s = 0, -3, -1 ± j 1.
There is no open loop zero.
There are four root locus branches originating at the four poles with value of
K = 0.These branches will terminate at ∞ (i.e. open loop zeros). This is
because there are no finite zeros.
The four branches will tend to reach infinity with the value of K increasing
towards an infinite value along asymptotic path
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 The angles the asymptotes with the real axis are calculated as

The centroid of the asymptotes is calculated as

Therefore, the asymptotes will be originating at s = -1.25 on the real axis

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 36

 The breakaway point or points are calculated using the characteristic equation, which is

To calculate s, we have to make ⇒

The breakaway point must be at s = -2.3 as it lies on the real axis.

The two root locus branches originating at s = 0 and s = -3 approach each other on the
real axis and breakaway at s = -2.3

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 37

 For calculating the value of K at which the root locus intersects the imaginary axis and
the system becomes oscillatory, we start with the characteristic equation and the Routh
Array as.
Characteristic equation is

Applying Routh criterion

For stability, 0 < K < 8.16.

At a value of K = 8.16, the two root loci
intersects the jw axis.
Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc.) 38
 The point of intersection is calculated from the auxiliary equation formed from the
coefficients of s2 row when K = 8.16 as

The angle of departure of the two root loci originating at s = -1 ± j 1 is calculated as

where𝜙 is the angle contribution by other poles to this pole.

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 Similarly, the angle of departure of the root locus from the other pole at (-1 -j1)
can be calculated as to be +70°.
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 The complete Root locus plot

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Exercise
1. Consider the open-loop transfer function of a unity feedback system

In the root locus diagram for this system :

(i) Determine the number of branches of root loci.
(ii) Determine at what locations these branches start.
(iii) Determine where the branches terminate.
(iv) Find the angles of the asymptotes and the point at which the
asymptotes intersect the real axis.
(v) Find the breakaway point.
(vi) Find the points where the root loci cross the imaginary axis.

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 2. The simplified form of open-loop transfer function of an airplane with an auto-
pilot is represented as

Sketch the root locus plot when a = b = 1, 𝜉 = 0.5 and 𝜔𝑛 = 4.

For what value of K the system will remain stable?
3. Sketch the root locus of the system whose transfer function is given by
𝐶(𝑠) 𝐾
=
𝑅(𝑠) 𝑠 𝑠+4 𝑠2 +𝑠+1 +𝐾

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 Thank you for your
Attention

Instructor: Mr. Biruk Simaani (M.Sc) 44