ME2142: Module Report

December 2014
Question 1
The purpose of this question is to test a student on his/her basic understanding of modeling and
analysis of a mechanical system.
(a)

This part of the question tests on the students ability to model a mechanical system,
which consists of two spring, two dashpots, and a mass. In this question, one spring is
parallel to one dashpot, one spring is in series with one dashpot. The students are asked to
derive the transfer function between the output displacement and the input displacement.
This question seems challenging for many students. A few students (most of them get A
or A+) can solve this part successfully.

(b)

This part of the question tests the students ability to analyze a second order system. A
block diagram is given. The student can analyze the natural frequency and the damping
ratio of the system, by deriving the characteristic equation. Most of student can solve this
part successfully. Very few students can not do it.

Question 2
The purpose of this question is to test a students understanding of the root locus and Rouths
stability criterion.
(a)

This part of the question tests the student on sketching of root locus. The block gram is
given. The students are asked to plot the root locus when the variable K changes. The
students can analyze the poles, the zeros, the loci on the real axis, the asymptotes, the
imaginary axis crossing, and the angles of the departure. Some of the students can solve
this problem successful. Most of the students can solve most of this question, but may
make some mistakes somewhere. Very few students can not answer this question
completely.

(b)

This part of the question tests the student on the application of Rouths Stability
Criterion. The students are asked to develop Rouths stability array based on the
characteristic equation which consists of variable K, and then analyze the stability of the
system based on the parameters in the first column. The students can compare the results
based on Rouths array to those identified in the plot of the root locus (the imaginary axis
crossing). Most of the students can solve this question. Very few students leave this part
of the question unanswered.

Question 3
The purpose of this question is to test a student on his/her basic understanding of Frequency
Response.
(a)

This part of the question tests on the students ability to sketch the Bode plots (both
magnitude (or gain) versus frequency and phase versus frequency) for a given transfer
function. Most students were able to sketch these plots. However, there were a few
students who were unable to sketch these plots.

(b)

This part of the question tests the students ability to read off the gain and phase margins
from the plots of part (a). Most students were able to deduce the gain and phase margins.

(c)

This part of the question tests the student on the effect of increasing gain on the Bode
plots of part (a). Only the gain plot changes: It is shifted vertically by the gain amount in
dB. The phase plot remains unchanged. Therefore, one can compute the new gain and
phase margins without re-plotting the plots of part (a). Most students understand that the
phase plot will remain unchanged. However, this does not mean the phase margin will
remain the same as in part (a).

(d)

This part of the question tests the student on the output response of a system whose
transfer function and its input sinusoidal are given. Most students were able to calculate
the gain and phase of the system at the frequency of the input and then re-constituting the
output response with these values.

Question 4
The purpose of this question is to test a students understanding of the Nyquist Stability
Criterion.
(a)

This part of the question tests the student on the sketching of the Nyquist plot for a given
transfer function.

(b)

This part of the question tests the student on the application of the Nyquist Stability
Criterion. This requires the student to calculate the negative real axis intercept. The
student then has to determine the value of the gain such that the negative real axis
intercept is greater than -1. Generally most students were able to do the above.
However, there are a few who have left this part of the question unanswered.

(c)

This part of the question requires the student to calculate the imaginary axis intercept for
a gain of K=10. Since imaginary axis intercepts are complex conjugate pairs, the student
has to identify the appropriate of these conjugate pairs as the positive imaginary axis
intercept. Most students were able to do this.

(d)

This part of the question tests the student on the calculation of the gain margin when
K=1. For this part of the question, the definition of gain margin requires the student to
compute the reciprocal of the negative real axis intercept. Most students were able to do
this.