Instrumentation and Control
Assignment # 03
Total Marks 50
Name: ________________________ Roll No. ______________________
Course Learning Outcome: CLO-1,2 Program Outcome: PLO-1,2
Q1 A strain gauge, having a gauge factor of 2, is mounted on a (CLO-2) (10 Marks)
rectangular steel bar ( Em = 200x106 kN/m2), as shown in Figure. The
bar is 3 cm wide and 1 cm high, and is subjected to a tensile force
of 30 KN. Determine the change in resistance of the strain gauge if
the resistance of the gauge was 120W in the absence of the axial
load.
Solution:
Q2 Describe control system? Also outline why automatic control
systems are required?
A control system is a system, which provides the desired response by
controlling the output. The following figure shows the simple block
diagram of a control system.
Here, the control system is represented by a single block. Since, the
output is controlled by varying input, the control system got this name. We (CLO-1) (10 Marks)
will vary this input with some mechanism. In the next section on open loop
and closed loop control systems, we will study in detail about the blocks
inside the control system and how to vary this input in order to get the
desired response.
Automatic control is widely employed in many technological and
Biological systems to perform operations not feasible for a man
because of the necessity of processing a large amount of data in a
limited time; it is also used to increase the productivity of labor and
the quality and accuracy of regulation and to free men from controlling
systems that operate under conditions which are relatively inaccessible or
hazardous to health.
Q3 Define open loop control system? Also outline its advantages
and disadvantages?
Answer:
Open Loop Control System: An Open Loop Control system is
one in which the controlled action is independent of the output. Any
control system that operates on time basis is an open loop system.
(CLO-1) (10 Marks)
Advantages:
Simple,
Cheap,
easy to maintain,
accurate if calibrated properly,
no stability problem
Disadvantages:
performs poorly in presence of disturbances,
to maintain quality, re-calibration may be necessary.
Q4 Define Closed loop control system? Also outline its advantages (CLO-1) (10 Marks)
and disadvantages?
Closed Loop or Feedback Control System:
Answer:
In this control system, the control action is somehow dependent on
the output.
Advantages:
• Increased accuracy
• Reduced system and parameter sensitivity
• Reduced effects of disturbances
• Reduced effect of nonlinearities
Disadvantages
• Usually more expensive than open loop system
• Usually more complex than open loop system
• A stable system may become unstable due to
feedback
Q5 List and explain basic elements of a closed-loop control (CLO-1) (10 Marks)
system?
Answer:
Figure shows the general form of a basic closed-loop system.
The following are the functions of the constituent elements:
1 Comparison element
This element compares the required value of the variable being
controlled with the measured value of what is being achieved and
produces an error signal:
error = required value signal - measured actual value signal
Thus if the output is the required value then there is no error and so
no signal is fed to initiate control. Only when there is a difference
between the required value and the actual values of the variable will
there be an error signal and so control action initiated.
2 Control law implementation element
The control law element determines what action to take when an
error signal is received. The control law used by the element may
be just to supply a signal which switches on or off when there is an
error, as in a room thermostat, or perhaps a signal which is
proportional to the size of the error so that if the error is small a
small control signal is produced and if the error is large a large
proportional control signal is produced. Other control laws include
integral mode where the control signal continues to increase as
long as there is an error and derivative mode where the control
signal is proportional to the rate at which the error is changing.
The term control unit or controller is often used for the combination
of the comparison element, i.e. the error detector, and the control
law implementation element. An example of such an element is a
differential amplifier which has two inputs, one the set value and
one the feedback signal, and any difference between the two is
amplified to give the error signal. When there is no difference there
is no resulting error signal.
3 Correction element
The correction element or, as it is often called, the final control
element, produces a change in the process which aims to correct or
change the controlled condition. The term actuator is used for the
element of a correction unit that provides the power to carry out the
control action. Examples of correction elements are directional
control valves which are used to switch the direction of flow of a
fluid and so control the movement of an actuator such as the
movement of a piston in a cylinder. Another example is an electric
motor where a signal is used to control the speed of rotation of the
motor shaft.
4 Process
The process is the system in which there is a variable that is being
controlled, e.g. it might be a room in a house with the variable of its
temperature being controlled.
5 Measurement element
The measurement element produces a signal related to the variable
condition of the process that is being controlled. For example, it
might be a temperature sensor with suitable signal processing.
