Stability and Control of a Thermoacoustic Device: The Rijke’s Tube

Author(s):  
Nejat Olgac ◽  
Umut Zalluhoglu ◽  
Ayhan S. Kammer

This study presents an intersection of two seemingly separate areas of research frontiers, “prediction and control of thermoacoustic instability” and “stability analysis of neutral-class linear-time-invariant (LTI) and time-delayed systems (TDS)”. The former is a coveted capability which has been elusive to the scientific community over 1½ centuries. Analytical capabilities have been limited due to the complex physics invoking the “combustion” phenomenon. Most available results rely on accumulated empirical knowledge. In this paper we consider a benchmark combustion test platform, which is known as Rijke’s tube. Its representation is simplified to an LTI neutral TDS, stability of which is assessed using a recent mathematical paradigm called the Cluster Treatment of Characteristic Roots (CTCR). CTCR provides a unique non-conservative and exhaustive stability declaration for a Rijke’s tube within the space of its parameters, naturally, under some simplifying assumptions. For those operating conditions which induce instability, we also propose a conventional and simple control strategy which can recover stability. This method is also analyzed using the CTCR paradigm for the first time.

2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rifat Sipahi ◽  
Nejat Olgac

A novel treatment for the stability of linear time invariant (LTI) systems with rationally independent multiple time delays is presented in this paper. The independence of delays makes the problem much more challenging compared to systems with commensurate time delays (where the delays have rational relations). We uncover some wonderful features for such systems. For instance, all the imaginary characteristic roots of these systems can be found exhaustively along a set of surfaces in the domain of the delays. They are called the “kernel” surfaces (curves for two-delay cases), and it is proven that the number of the kernel surfaces is manageably small and bounded. All possible time delay combinations, which yield an imaginary characteristic root, lie either on this kernel or its infinitely many “offspring” surfaces. Another hidden feature is that the root tendencies along these surfaces exhibit an invariance property. From these outstanding characteristics an efficient, exact, and exhaustive methodology results for the stability assessment. As an added uniqueness of this method, the systems under consideration do not have to be stable for zero delays. Several example case studies are presented, which are prohibitively difficult, if not impossible to solve using any other peer methodology known to the authors.


Author(s):  
Rifat Sipahi ◽  
Nejat Olgac

A novel treatment for the stability of linear time invariant (LTI) systems with rationally independent multiple time delays is presented. The independence of delays makes the problem much more challenging compared to the systems with commensurate time delays (where the delays have rational relations). It is shown that the imaginary characteristic roots can all be found along a set of curves in the domain of the delays. They are called the “kernel curves”, and it is proven that their number is small and bounded. All possible time delay combinations, which yield an imaginary characteristic root, lie on a curve so called the offspring of the kernel curves within the domain of the delays. We also claim that the root tendencies show a very interesting invariance property as a test point crosses these curves. An efficient, exact and exhaustive methodology results from these outstanding characteristics. It is unique to the new methodology that, the systems under consideration do not have to possess stable behavior for zero delays. Several example case studies are presented, which are prohibitively difficult, if not impossible to solve using any other peer methodology.


Author(s):  
Nejat Olgac ◽  
Rifat Sipahi

A new methodology is presented for assessing the stability posture of a general class of linear time-invariant – neutral time-delayed systems (LTI-NTDS). It is based on a “Cluster Treatment of Characteristic Roots CTCR” paradigm. The technique offers a number of unique features: It returns exact bounds of time delay for stability, furthermore it yields the number of unstable characteristic roots of the system in an explicit and non-sequentially evaluated function of time delay. As a direct consequence of the latter feature, the new methodology creates entirely, all existing stability intervals of delay, τ. It is shown that the CTCR inherently enforces an intriguing necessary condition for τ-stabilizability, which is the main contribution of this paper. This, so called “small delay” effect, was recognized earlier for NTDS, only through some cumbersome mathematics. In addition to the above listed characteristics, the CTCR is also unique in handling systems with unstable starting posture for τ = 0, which may be τ-stabilized for higher values of delay. Example cases are provided.


Author(s):  
Ryan R. Jenkins ◽  
Nejat Olgac

The dynamics we treat here is a very special and degenerate class of linear time-invariant time-delayed systems (LTI-TDS) with commensurate delays, which exhibit a double imaginary root for a particular value of the delay. The stability behavior of the system within the immediate proximity of this parametric setting which creates the degenerate dynamics is investigated. Several recent investigations also handled this class of systems from the perspective of calculus of variations. We approach the same problem from a different angle, using a recent paradigm called Cluster Treatment of Characteristic Roots (CTCR). We convert one of the parameters in the system into a variable and perturb it around the degenerate point of interest, while simultaneously varying the delay. Clearly, only a particular selection of this arbitrary parameter and the delay enforce the degeneracy. All other adjacent points would be free of the mentioned degeneracy, and therefore can be handled with the CTCR paradigm. Analysis then reveals that the parametrically limiting stability behavior of the dynamics can be extracted by simply using CTCR. The results are shown to be very much aligned with the other investigations on the problem. Simplicity and numerical speed of CTCR may be considered as practical advantages in analyzing such systems. This approach also exhibits the capabilities of CTCR in handling these degenerate cases contrary to the convictions in earlier reports. An example case study is provided to demonstrate these features.


2004 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nejat Olgac ◽  
Rifat Sipahi

A new methodology is presented for assessing the stability posture of a general class of linear time-invariant—neutral time-delayed systems (LTI-NTDS). It is based on a “Cluster Treatment of Characteristic Roots CTCR” paradigm, which yields a procedure called the Direct Method (DM). The technique offers a number of unique features: It returns exact bounds of time delay for stability, as well as the number of unstable characteristic roots of the system in an explicit and nonsequentially evaluated function of time delay. As a direct consequence of the latter feature, the new methodology creates entirely, all existing stability intervals of delay, τ. It is shown that the Direct Method inherently enforces an intriguing necessary condition for τ-stabilizability, which is the main contribution of this paper. This, so-called, “small delay” effect, was recognized earlier for NTDS, only through some cumbersome mathematics. Furthermore, the Direct Method is also unique in handling systems with unstable starting posture for τ=0, which may be τ-stabilized for higher values of delay. Example cases are provided.


2016 ◽  
Vol 826 ◽  
pp. 61-65
Author(s):  
Nidal H. Abu-Hamdeh

The mechanics of a trailer system moving up and down sloping ground under different operating conditions was theoretically simulated. A computer program was developed to analyze the system to predict the effect of both the trailer loading weight and the slope angle on the off-road vehicle stability, traction ability, and drawbar loading. The results of this analysis showed that the off-road vehicle becomes unstable when towing a 3750 kg trailer uphill at 28° slope angle. Insufficient traction occurred at slope angles ranging from 15° to 18° corresponding to trailer weight of 3750 to 750 kg. The parallel component of drawbar pull reached a maximum value of (17318) N when the trailer was pushing the off-road vehicle downhill at 30° slope angle. The normal component (normal to the tractive surface) showed similar maximum values for both uphill and downhill motions of the system. The use of computer analysis in this study provided a significant improvement in predicting the effect of different parameters on stability and control of off-road vehicle-trailer combination on sloping ground.Keywords: Stability, Traction, Sloping ground, Drawbar.


Author(s):  
Rifat Sipahi ◽  
Nejat Olgac

A novel treatment for the stability of a class of linear time invariant (LTI) systems with rationally independent multiple time delays using the Direct Method (DM) is studied. Since they appear in many practical applications in the systems and control community, this class of dynamics has attracted considerable interest. The stability analysis is very complex because of the infinite dimensional nature (even for single delay) of the dynamics and furthermore the multiplicity of these delays. The stability problem is much more challenging compared to the TDS with commensurate time delays (where time delays have rational relations). It is shown in an earlier publication of the authors that the DM brings a unique, exact and structured methodology for the stability analysis of commensurate time delayed cases. The transition from the commensurate time delays to multiple delay case motivates our study. It is shown that the DM reveals all possible stability regions in the space of multiple time delays. The systems that are considered do not have to possess stable behavior for zero delays. We present a numerical example on a system, which is considered “prohibitively difficult” in the literature, just to exhibit the strengths of the new procedure.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (91) ◽  
pp. 20130921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane P. Windsor ◽  
Richard J. Bomphrey ◽  
Graham K. Taylor

Vision is a key sensory modality for flying insects, playing an important role in guidance, navigation and control. Here, we use a virtual-reality flight simulator to measure the optomotor responses of the hawkmoth Hyles lineata , and use a published linear-time invariant model of the flight dynamics to interpret the function of the measured responses in flight stabilization and control. We recorded the forces and moments produced during oscillation of the visual field in roll, pitch and yaw, varying the temporal frequency, amplitude or spatial frequency of the stimulus. The moths’ responses were strongly dependent upon contrast frequency, as expected if the optomotor system uses correlation-type motion detectors to sense self-motion. The flight dynamics model predicts that roll angle feedback is needed to stabilize the lateral dynamics, and that a combination of pitch angle and pitch rate feedback is most effective in stabilizing the longitudinal dynamics. The moths’ responses to roll and pitch stimuli coincided qualitatively with these functional predictions. The moths produced coupled roll and yaw moments in response to yaw stimuli, which could help to reduce the energetic cost of correcting heading. Our results emphasize the close relationship between physics and physiology in the stabilization of insect flight.


Author(s):  
Qingbin Gao ◽  
Umut Zalluhoglu ◽  
Nejat Olgac

It has been shown that the stability of LTI time-delayed systems with respect to the delays can be analyzed in two equivalent domains: (i) delay space (DS) and (ii) spectral delay space (SDS). Considering a broad class of linear time-invariant time delay systems with multiple delays, the equivalency of the stability transitions along the transition boundaries is studied in both spaces. For this we follow two corresponding radial lines in DS and SDS, and prove for the first time in literature that they are equivalent. This property enables us to extract local stability transition features within the SDS without going back to the DS. The main advantage of remaining in SDS is that, one can avoid a non-linear transition from kernel hypercurves to offspring hypercurves in DS. Instead the potential stability switching curves in SDS are generated simply by stacking a finite dimensional cube called the building block (BB) along the axes. A case study is presented within the report to visualize this property.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mostafa Y. B. Elshabasy ◽  
Yongki Yoon ◽  
Ashraf Omran

The main objective of the current investigation is to provide a simple procedure to select the controller gains for an aircraft with a largely wide complex flight envelope with different source of nonlinearities. The stability and control gains are optimally devised using genetic algorithm. Thus, the gains are tuned based on the information of a single designed mission. This mission is assigned to cover a wide range of the aircraft’s flight envelope. For more validation, the resultant controller gains were tested for many off-designed missions and different operating conditions such as mass and aerodynamic variations. The results show the capability of the proposed procedure to design a semiglobal robust stability and control augmentation system for a highly maneuverable aircraft such as F-16. Unlike the gain scheduling and other control design methodologies, the proposed technique provides a semi-global single set of gains for both aircraft stability and control augmentation systems. This reduces the implementation efforts. The proposed methodology is superior to the classical control method which rigorously requires the linearization of the nonlinear aircraft model of the investigated highly maneuverable aircraft and eliminating the sources of nonlinearities mentioned above.


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