ECEN 453

EGERTON UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS
REGULAR - NJORO CAMPUS

FOURTH YEAR EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

IN INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL ENGINEERING

ECEN 453: LINEAR SYSTEMS AND CONTROL II

STREAM: BSc. ICEN TIME: 2 HRS

EXAMINATION SESSION: DECEMBER YEAR: 2020

INSTRUCTIONS

(i) You should have the following for the examination.

Answer Book
Scientific calculator
Laplace transform tables
Graph of overshoot (Mp %) vs. damping factor (ζ )
Semi-logarithmic paper for Bode plots.
(ii) This paper consists of FIVE (5) questions.
(iii) Answer Question ONE compulsory (30 marks) and any other TWO (2)
Questions (20 marks each).

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Question One
(a) Consider the system shown in figure Q1 (a). The open-loop transfer function is

4
G( s )=
s (s +2)
It is desired too design a compensator for the system so that the static error constant K, is 20sec -1,
the phase margin at least 50o, and the gain margin is at least 10 dB.
(20 marks)

Figure Q1 (a)

(b) For the open-loop system . Determine the value for K at the stability
boundary and the values of K at the points where PM = 30o.
(10 marks)
Question Two
Consider a simple RL circuit as in figure Q2 (i)
(i) Show that the system is stable and has a bounded output to a step input (by
determining the step-response analytically and sketching it).
(ii) Design a PI controller, K(s), (refer to figure Q2(ii)) such that when it is applied to the
circuit, the resulting settling time (t s) due to a unit step input is less than 10 seconds with a 20%
overshoot.
(20 marks)

Figure Q2 (i) Figure Q2 (ii)

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Question Three
(a) Define or explain mathematically the term BIBO stability in the time domain.
(2 marks)
(b) Consider h(t)=exp(−t) sin(2t)1(t). Is this system BIBO stable? Explain
(2 marks)
(c) Check for stability using the Routh test for three different cases of a system with a
characteristic polynomial given as below. What is special in each case?

(i) a(s)=s3+s2+2s+8.
(2 marks)
(ii) a(s)=s5+2s4+2s3+4s2+11s+10
(4 marks)
(iii) a(s)=s4+s3+3s2+2s+2.
(4 marks)
(d) Consider the system in figure Q3 (d) and use the Routh test as a design tool and calculate for
what values of K the system is stable.
(6 marks)

Figure Q3 (d)

Question Four
(a) Two bode plots are shown in figure Q4 (a) (i) and figure Q4 (a) (ii). Identify the transfer
function corresponding to each plot.
(8 marks)

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Figure Q4 (a) (i)

Figure Q4 (a) (ii)

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(b) Sketch the Nyquist (Polar) plots for the following system transfer functions.

(i)

(6 marks)

(ii)

(6 marks)
Question Five
(a) State Cauchy’s theorem the so called Principle of the Argument
(4 marks)

(b) Illustrate Cauchy’ theorem by sketching a corresponding possible output contour following a
complex mapping of the input contours (c1,c2,c3) in figure Q5(b)(i)(ii)(iii). The cross (es) and
circle(s) represent pole(s) and zero(s) respectively. Indicate the number of encirclements of the
origin after the mapping appropriately.
(6 marks)

(i) (ii) (iii)

Figure Q5 (b)

(c) Obtain the phase and gain margins of the system shown in figure Q5(c) for the two cases
where K=10 and K=100. Analyze your results and make comments on ways of improving
system performance.

(10 marks)

Figure Q5(c)

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Graph of Mp vs. ξ

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