Control Systems Sensitivity and its Effects GATE Study Material in PDF

An important step in your preparation for GATE EC or GATE EE is the study of Control
Systems. To understand the Basics of Control Systems, you need to be familiar with the
concept of Control Systems Sensitivity and its Effects. Use these GATE Study Material to help
you in your GATE 2017 Preparation. In these free GATE Notes you can learn about Control
Systems Sensitivity and its Effects on Parameters in Open Loop and Closed Loop Systems.
You can also download these free notes in PDF. Also useful for other exams like IES, BSNL,
DRDO, BARC.

Control Systems Sensitivity and its Effects on

Parameters in Open and Closed Loop Systems
Sensitivity is defined as a relative measure of changes is parameter variations.
Suppose b is a parameter that varies due to another parameter a, then sensitivity is
measured as:
%change in b

Sab = % change in a =

b
b
a
a

a b

= b a

Open Loop System

Now, an open loop system is given as

C(s)
R(s)

= G(s).

Closed Loop System

While, a closed loop system is given as
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C(s)

G(s)

= 1+G(s)H(s)
R(s)
One of the primary purpose of using feedback in control systems is to reduce the sensitivity of
the system to parameter variations. The parameters of a system may vary sometimes with
factors like environmental conditions. Thus, the sensitivity is a measure of the effectiveness of
feedback in reducing the influence of these variations on system performance.
Now, if we look at open loop and closed loop systems,
C(s)

Let T = R(s)
For open loop system, T = G(s)
SGT =

T
T
G
G

G
G
G
G

SGT = 1
For closed loop system,
G

T = 1+GH
SGT =

T
T
G
G

= T G

G T

Now, G = G (1+GH)
=

(1+GH)(1)G(H)
(1+GH)2
G

= (1+GH)2
G(1+GH)

SGT = T . (1+GH)2 = G(1+GH)2

1

SGT = 1+GH
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Thus in the closed loop system, the sensitivity gets decreased by a factor of (1 + GH).
Desensitivity factor, D = 1 + GH.
Now, if we look at the sensitivity of a closed loop system with respect to variation in H(s).
T
SH
=

T
T
H
H

H T

T H
G

= H (1+GH) =

(1+GH)(0)G(G)
(1+GH)2

G2

= (1+GH)2
H
T
SH
=

H(1+GH)
G

G2

GH

. (1+GH)2 = (1+GH)

From the calculations above, we can conclude that the closed loop system is more sensitive to
the variations in feedback path than variation in forward path.

Example of Control Systems Sensitivity & its effect

We have a closed loop system given as

SGT = 1+(104 )(0.1) = 1+1000 0.001

(104 )(0.1)

103

0.1

1+103

T
SH
= (1+(104 )(

=
))

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