Stability of Peak-Holding Control Systems

The adaptive response of peak-holding control systems is investigated using Liapunov's second stability method. The control loop is simplified by neglecting the dynamic elements associated with performance index measurement and a Liapunov function based on the plant and controller nonlinearities is derived. Stability criteria are obtained for the situation where control parameter bounds exist and for two different cases of variation of plant operating conditions (viz., drift and periodic disturbance of optimum operating point). Expeximental results are given that indicate the validity of the technique used, even in situations where the dynamic measurement elements present in the control loop cannot be neglected. The aim of the paper is to improve the understanding of the performance of peak-holding control systems, of the optimalizing type under time varying operating conditions and to present simple stability criteria that are directly applicable to the practical case.