Root Locus 263

where pj now represents all the open-loop poles, including those at the origin,
and rj are the roots of the characteristic equation. This equation reveals that
as the system gain is varied from zero to infinity, the sum of the system roots
is constant. In other words, the sum of the system roots is conserved and is
independent of K. When a system has several root-locus branches that go to
infinity (as K ! 1), the directions of the branches are such that the sum of
the roots is constant. A branch going to the right therefore requires that
there will be a branch going to the left. The root locus of Fig. 7.2 satisfies the
conservancy law for the root locus. The sum of the roots is a constant for
all values of K.
For a unity-feedback system, Rao [6] has shown that the closed-loop
pole and zero locations of
CðsÞ Kðs  z1 Þ ðs  zw Þ
¼ ð7:69Þ
RðsÞ ðs  p1 Þ ðs  pn Þ
satisfy the relation
X
w X
n
ðzi Þq ¼ ðpj Þq q ¼ 1 2 . . .  m  1 ð7:70Þ
i¼1 j¼1

for m > 1, that is, for a Type 2 (or higher) system. This serves as a check on
the accuracy of the root determination.

Rule 11: Determination of Roots on the Root Locus

After the root locus has been plotted, the specifications for system perfor-
mance are used to determine the dominant roots. The dominant branch is
the branch that is the closest to the imaginary axis. This root has the largest
influence on the time response. When this branch yields complex dominant
roots, the time response is oscillatory and the figures of merit (see Sec. 3.10)
are the peak overshoot Mp , the time tp at which the peak overshoot occurs,
and the settling time ts. An additional figure of merit, the gain Km, significantly
affects the steady-state error (see Chap. 6). All of these quantities can be
used to select the dominant roots. Thus, the designer may use the damping
ratio z the undamped natural frequency on  the damped natural frequency
od  the damping coefficient s, or the gain Km to select the dominant roots.
When the dominant roots are selected, the required loop sensitivity can be
determined by applying the magnitude condition, as shown in Eq. (7.33).
The remaining roots on each of the other branches can be determined by any
of the following methods:
Method 1. Determine the point on each branch of the locus that satisfies
the same value of loop sensitivity as for the dominant roots.

Copyright © 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc.