Module 8

PID control and associated controller types

Module units
8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 The classical three-term PID controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Optimal tuning of PID controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advantages and disadvantages of the dierent types of controllers Empirical tuning rules according to Ziegler and Nichols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1 8-3 8-4 8-6

Module overview. Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control constitutes the heuristic approach to controller design that has found wide acceptance in industrial applications. This type of controller family is introduced and its behaviour discussed in detail. Both, empirical tuning using the rules according to Ziegler and Nichols and the optimal tuning using quadratic performance indices are shown. A comparison of the controller members of this family using performance indices is given to demonstrate the dierences in their control behaviour. Module objectives. When you have completed this module you should be able to: 1. Understand PID-type controllers. 2. Tune PID-type controllers using the rules of Ziegler and Nichols. Module prerequisites. Transfer function, performance indices.

8.1

The classical three-term PID controller

We have seen in section 7.1 that proportional feedback control can reduce error responses but that it still allows a non-zero steady-state error for a proportional system. In addition, proportional feedback increases the speed of response but has a much larger transient overshoot. When the controller includes a term proportional to the integral of the error, then the steady-state error can be eliminated, as shown in section 7.2. But this comes at the expense of further deterioration in the dynamic response. Addition of a term proportional to the derivative of the error can damp the dynamic response. Combined, these three kinds of actions form the classical PID controller, which is widely used in industry. This principle mode of action of the PID controller can be explained by the parallel connection of the P, I and D elements shown in Figure 8.1.1. From this diagram the transfer function of the PID controller is GC (s) = UC (s) KI = Kp + + KD s . E (s) s 8-1 (8.1.1)

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MODULE 8. PID CONTROL AND ASSOCIATED CONTROLLER TYPES

K p

K I s +

7
+

+ s

(7 )

o r

K
C

1 + T I s

+ U C +

(7 )

K
D

T
D

Figure 8.1.1: Block diagram of the PID controller The controller variables are KC = Kp Kp TI = KI KD TD = Kp Eq. (8.1.1) can be rearranged to give GC (s) = KC 1 + 1 + TD s TI s . (8.1.2) gain integral action time derivative action time

These three variables KC , TI and TD are usually tuned within given ranges. Therefore, they are often called the tuning parameters of the controller. By proper choice of these tuning parameters a controller can be adapted for a specic plant to obtain a good behaviour of the controlled system. If follows from Eq. (8.1.2) that the time response of the controller output is uC (t) = KC e(t) + KC TI
t

e( ) d + KC TD
0

de(t) . dt

(8.1.3)

Using this relationship for a step input of e(t), i.e. e(t) = (t), the step response h(t) of the PID controller can be easily determined. The result is shown in Figure 8.1.2a. One has to observe that the length of the arrow KC TD of the D action is only a measure of the weight of the impulse.

h (t) K
C

= 
K
C

h (t)

(1 + T D ) a c t io n K C P

I a c t io n

1 + T V D a c t io n K
D

)
C

> 
I a c t io n

a c t io n t

a c t io n t

- T
I

- T
I

0 T

Figure 8.1.2: Step responses (a) of the ideal and (b) of the real PID controller In the previous considerations it has been assumed that a D behaviour can be realised by the PID controller. This is an ideal assumption and in reality the ideal D element cannot be realised (see section 3.3). In real PID controllers a lag is included in the D behaviour. Instead of a D element in the block diagram of Figure 8.1.1 a DT1 element with the transfer function GD (s) = KD TV s 1 + TV s (8.1.4)

8.2. OPTIMAL TUNING OF PID CONTROLLERS

8-3

is introduced. From this the transfer function of the real PID controller or more precisely of the PIDT1 controller follows as KI TV s + KD . (8.1.5) GC (s) = Kp + s 1 + TV s Introducing the controller tuning parameters KC = Kp , TI = it follows GC (s) = KC 1 + KC KI and TD = KD TV KC

1 s + TD TI s 1 + TV s

(8.1.6)

The step response h(t) of the PIDT1 controller is shown in Figure 8.1.2b. This response from t = 0 gives a large rise, which declines fast to a value close to the P action, and then migrates into the slower I action. The P, I and D behaviour can be tuned independently. In commercial controllers the D step at t = 0 can often be tuned 5 to 25 times larger than the P step. A strongly weighted D action may cause the actuator to reach its maximum value, i.e. it reaches its limits. As special cases of PID controllers one obtains for: a) TD = 0 the PI controller with transfer function GC (s) = KC 1 + 1 TI s ; (8.1.7)

b) TI the ideal PD controller with the transfer function GC (s) = KC (1 + TD s) and the PDT1 controller with the transfer function GC (s) = KC 1 + TD s 1 + TV s ; (8.1.9) (8.1.8)

c) TD = 0 and TI the P controller with the transfer function GC (s) = KC . (8.1.10)

The step responses of these types of controllers are compiled in Figure 8.1.3. A pure I controller may also be applied and this has the transfer function GC (s) = KI KC 1 = . s TI s (8.1.11)

8.2

Optimal tuning of PID controllers

The measure of the quality of the transient response of a PID controlled system can be performed by calculating an integral performance index as shown in section 7.3.2. The best controller is one that has the minimum performance index. When this performance index is a minimum for a specied input, the system performance is said to be optimal. When the input signal is specied the quadratic performance index JISE can be calculated for a given plant transfer function as a function of the tuning parameters, e.g. KC , TI , TD and TV . The mathematical calculation of this performance index for given values of the tuning parameters is simple as shown in section 7.3.3. But getting the optimal parameters is a non-trivial task. Though computerised optimisation algorithms are available to calculate the optimal parameter setting, for the case of quadratic

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MODULE 8. PID CONTROL AND ASSOCIATED CONTROLLER TYPES

h (t) P
C

h (t) c o n t r o lle r K
C

(1 + T
D

P D c o n t r o lle r ( id e a l)

K
C

t 0

h (t)

P I c o n t r o lle r K

h (t) T (1 + D) T K
C

P D T 1 c o n t r o lle r ( r e a l P D c o n t r o lle r )

K
C

- T
I

t 0

Figure 8.1.3: Step responses of the PID controller family performance indices a mathematical analysis is possible. The approach shown in section A.7 gives more insight into the controller settings and can be applied to all types of plants and PID controllers. In the following the command and disturbance behaviour of a control system with a real PID controller and a plant with the transfer function GP (s) = KP . (1 + T s)4 (8.2.1)

will be investigated. The response of the control error to step changes w(t) = w0 (t) in the command input and z (t) = z0 (t) in the plant input is E (s) = w0 z0 GC 1 . 1 + GC GP s

For the plant (Eq. (8.2.1)) and the real PID controller (Eq. (8.1.6)) one obtains E (s) = w0 TI (1 + T s)4 (1 + TV s) z0 KP TI (1 + TV s) , TI (1 + T s)4 (1 + TV s)s + KC KP [1 + (TI + TV )s + (TD + TV )s2 ] (8.2.2)

which is in the form of Eq. (7.3.6) or Eq. (A.7.5) for k = KC KP . Applying the analysis shown in section A.7 to the JISE performance index one gets the diagrams in Figure 8.2.1, separately for the command and disturbance inputs. The integral action time constant is TI 8 normalised by TIN = 4 T . These diagrams are shown for the optimal value TD = TDopt = 3 T of the derivative action time constant. The lter time constant is TV = 0.1TD . The diagrams show a rather rectangular stability area that makes tuning of KC and TI for a xed TD easy from the stability point of view. But the performance characteristics are quite dierent. The optimal parameters for the two cases dier by about a factor of two. Therefore, an optimal tuned controller is in general never optimally tuned for command and disturbance inputs.

8.3

Advantages and disadvantages of the dierent types of controllers

In the following the disturbance behaviour is investigated using the controllers introduced in section 8.1. Their parameters are tuned optimally according to the performance index JISE from section 7.3.2. The

8.3. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTROLLERS8-5 plant is given by Eq. (8.2.1). Figure 8.3.1 shows for the dierent types of controller the responses to a step disturbance z0 (t) of the controlled variable y , which is normalised by KP z0 . These curves indicate that because w(t) 0 the relation e(t) = y (t) is valid. For discussing these curves the term settling time t3% according to section 7.3.1 is used, which is related to the steady state of the uncontrolled case y,without = KP z0 . (8.3.1)

In addition, the dierent cases should be compared with respect to the normalised maximum overshoot Mp /(KP z0 ). The dierent cases are discussed below: a) The P controller shows a relatively high maximum overshoot Mp /(KP z0 ), a long settling time t3% as well as a steady-state error e .
T

IN

J 0 .7 5 0 .6 2 5 0 .5

IS E

= 

4 .2 d J
IS E

/ d k = 0 J = 1 .3 3

IS E o p t

0 .3 7 5 T 0 .2 5 0 .1 2 5 0 0 T

IN o p t

= 0 .4 2 2 .1 1 .6

1 .4

2 .9 u n s t a b le k 1 1 .5 0 .5

o p t

= 1 .5 9 2 2 .5 3 k

IN

IS E

0 .7 5 0 .6 2 5 0 .5 0 .3 7 5 0 .2 5 0 .1 2 5 0 0 T

= 2 .3 0 .5 5

> 
d J 0 .2 4 0 .1 4
IS E

/ d k = 0

IN o p t

= 0 .2 2

IS E o p t

= 0 .1

u n s t a b le k 1 1 .5 2 0 .5

o p t

= 2 .7 4 2 .5 3 k

Figure 8.2.1: Stability and performance diagram for step changes (a) in the command input (w0 = 1, z0 = 0) and (b) in the plant input (z0 = 1, w0 = 0)

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MODULE 8. PID CONTROL AND ASSOCIATED CONTROLLER TYPES

b) The I controller has a higher maximum overshoot than the P controller due to the slowly starting I behaviour, but no steady-state error. c) The PI controller fuses the properties of the P and I controllers. It shows a maximum overshoot and settling time similar to the P controller but no steady-state error. d) The real PD controller according to Eq. (8.1.9) with TV = TD /10 has a smaller maximum overshoot due to the faster D action compared with the controller types mentioned under a) to c). Also in this case a steady-state error is visible, which is smaller than in the case of the P controller. This is because the PD controller generally is tuned to have a larger gain KC due to the positive phase shift of the D action. For the results shown in Figure 8.3.1 the gain for the P controller is KC = 2.68 and for the PD controller KC = 4.74. The plant has a gain of KP = 1. e) The PID controller according to Eq. (8.1.6) with TV = TD /10 fuses the properties of a PI and PD controller. It shows a smaller maximum overshoot than the PD controller and has no steady state error due to the I action. The qualitative concepts of this example are also relevant to other type of plants with delayed proportional behaviour. This discussion has given some rst insights into the static and dynamic behaviour of control loops.

8.4

Empirical tuning rules according to Ziegler and Nichols

Many industrial processes show step responses with pure aperiodic behaviour according to Figure 8.4.1. This S-shape curve is characteristic of many high-order systems and such plant transfer functions may be approximated by the mathematical model GP (s) = KP Tt s e , 1 + Ts (8.4.1)

which contains a 1st-order delay element and a dead time. Figure 8.4.1 shows the approximation by a PT1 Tt element. Here the step response is characterised by constructing the tangent at the turning point T with the following three values: KP ( gain of the plant), Tr (rise time) and Tu (delay time). Then a rough approximation according to Eq. (8.4.1) is to set Tt = Tu and T = Tr . For a plant of the type described above a lot of tuning rules for standard controllers have been developed. These have been mostly developed empirically from simulation studies. The most famous empirical tuning rules are those of Ziegler and Nichols. These tuning rules have been derived to provide step responses for the closed loop, where the response shows a decrease of the amplitude of approx. 25% per period. For the application of these rules according to Ziegler and Nichols two dierent approaches can be used: a) Method of the stability margin(I): Here, the following steps are used: 1. The controller is switched to pure P action. 2. The gain KC of the P controller is continuously increased until the closed loop shows permanent oscillations. The value of the gain KC at this state is denoted as the critical controller gain KC crit . 3. The length of period Tcrit (critical period) of the oscillations is measured. 4. From KC crit and Tcrit one determines the controller tuning values KC , TI and TD using the formulas given in Table 8.4.1. b) Method of the step response (II): In the case of an industrial plant it is often not possible, suitable or allowed to drive the plant into permanent oscillations for determining KC crit and Tcrit . Measuring the step response of the plant does not generally cause diculties. Therefore, in many cases the second form of the Ziegler-Nichols approach is more expedient. The rules are based directly on the slope KP /Tr of the tangent at the turning point and on the delay Tu of the step response. One

y C o n t r o lle r
o p t

M
p
o p t

K C 4 5 4 8

T I

z 0 K P y
,w it h o u t

1 .0 z 0K P w it h o u t c o n t r o lle r 5 6 Z ' I W + _ P P D G
C

0 4 2

0 .8

P ID P I P D P I
P

z 0 K 0 .2 0 .4 0 .2 0 .4 0 .7 2 .7 2 .4 4 .7 2 .6 4 T 0 .2 2 1 .3 8 0 .8 8 K

t3 % T 1 9 3 5 3 1 2 2 4 0

e z0 K P - 0 .1 7 - 0 .2 7 -

T D opt 4 T 0 .6 7 0 .3 2 -

0 .6 = E (s ) + U 0 +

G P (s )

0 .4

0 .2

0 .0 1 0 P ID P I 2 0 3 0 4 0 t T

8.4. EMPIRICAL TUNING RULES ACCORDING TO ZIEGLER AND NICHOLS

- 0 .2

Figure 8.3.1: Behaviour of the normalised controlled variable y/(z0 KP ) for step disturbance z = z0 (t) at the input to the plant [GP (s) = KP /(1 + T s)4 ; KP = 1 ] for dierent types of controllers

8-7

8-8
h ( t) K P

MODULE 8. PID CONTROL AND ASSOCIATED CONTROLLER TYPES

0 .6 3 K P T

P T 1T t a p p r o x im a tio n

0 t

T
u

T
r

Figure 8.4.1: Describing the step response of a process by the three characteristic values KP (gain of the plant), Tr (rise time) and Tu (delay time) has to observe that the measurement of the step response needs only to be taken at the turning point T, as the slope of the tangent already describes the ratio KP /Tr . Using the measured data Tu and KP /Tr as well as the formula given in Table 8.4.1 the controller tuning parameters can be determined by simple calculations.

Table 8.4.1: Controller tuning parameters according to Ziegler and Nichols Controller parameters Type of controller P Method I PI PID P Method II PI PID KC 0.5 KC crit 0.45 KC crit 0.6 KC crit 1 Tr KP Tu 0.9 Tr KP Tu 1.2 Tr KP Tu TI 0.85 Tcrit 0.5 Tcrit 3.33 Tu 2 Tu TD 0.12 Tcrit 0.5 Tu

Demonstration Example 8.1 A virtual experiment using PID control for tracking Demonstration Example 8.2 A virtual experiment using PID control for high-precision positioning DYNAST study example 8.1 PI control of a PT1 Tt plant DYNAST study example 8.2 PID control of a PT1 Tt plant

8.4. EMPIRICAL TUNING RULES ACCORDING TO ZIEGLER AND NICHOLS DYNAST study example 8.3 Disturbance response for PI control of a PT1 Tt plant

8-9

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MODULE 8. PID CONTROL AND ASSOCIATED CONTROLLER TYPES