1

Phase Margin & Gain Margin

M. Sami Fadali
Professor of Electrical Engineering
University of Nevada
2
Stability Margins
What is the worst perturbation of the
transfer function that will make the system
marginally stable?
Marginal stability for open loop stable
systems is when the contour goes through
the point (1,0).
3
Gain and Phase Margins
Gain Margin: gain perturbation that makes
the system marginally stable.
Phase Margin: negative phase perturbation
that makes the system marginally stable.
4
Model Perturbation
G(s) = model perturbation
Gain Margin: G(s) = K (gain perturbation)
Phase Margin: G(s) = e
j
(phase lag
perturbation)

G(s) G(s)
+

C(s)
R(s)
5
Definitions of Margins
Gain Margin: additional gain that makes the
system on the verge of instability.
Phase Margin: additional phase lag that
makes the system on the verge of
instability.
6
Margins on Polar Plot

gc

pc
gc
/
pc
=gain crossover /phase crossover
7
Polar plot of Unstable System
Negative GM (dBs) and PM.
Point on Bode Plot
Negative real axis for Nyquist plot
corresponds to an angle of .
Magnitude of unity corresponds to zero dB.
For PM we need to find the phase angle at
magnitude unity (0dB).
For GM we need to find the magnitude at an
angle of .
8
9
Bode Plot of Stable System
>> margin(g)
gc pc
10
MATLAB Margin
>> [Gm,Pm,Wcg,Wcp] = margin(g)
Gm =
2.5000
Pm =
22.5359
Wcg =
10.0000 (phase crossover freq.)
Wcp =
6.0783 (gain crossover freq.)
Gain Margin Calculation
Multiply numerator and denominator by the
complex conjugate of the denominator.

2
Equate the imaginary part of the numerator to
zero and solve for the phase crossover
frequency:
pc

pc
Calculate the gain margin
pc
11
Example: Gain Margin
Solve for phase crossover (imaginary part zero)
2 2
2
pc
12
Calculate Gain Margin
Evaluate the magnitude at the phase crossover
frequency
13
Phase Margin Calculation
Solve for gain crossover frequency (unity
magnitude)
gc
2
gc
2
gc
2
Calculate the phase margin
gc
14
Phase Margin Calculation
Solve for gain crossover (unity magnitude)
2
6
2 2 2
6 4 4 2 6
2
gc
15 16
Phase Margin
0 ]
gc
gc
Stability Margins
17
Nyquist Diagram
Real Axis
I
m
a
g
i
n
a
r
y

A
x
i
s
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
System: g
Phase Margin (deg): 104
Delay Margin (sec): 1.12
At frequency (rad/s): 1.62
Closed Loop Stable? Yes
>> g=zpk([],[-1,-5],10)
Zero/pole/gain:
10
-----------
(s+1) (s+5)
>> nyquist(g)
Delay Margin
dm
= delay margin = time delay for the
system to be on the verge of instability.
Transfer function with time delay
d
-s1
d
System on verge of instability
gc
-]o
gc
1
dm
18
Delay Margin Calculation
gc
-]o
gc
1
dm
Equate angles:
gc gc dm
gc
Solve for the delay margin
dm
gc
gc
gc
19
Example
gc
gc
dm
gc
Same as MATLAB answer.
20