Fault-tolerant control of nonlinear processes: Performance-based reconfiguration and robustness

This work considers the problem of control system/actuator failures in nonlinear processes subject to input constraints and presents two approaches for fault-tolerant control that focus on incorporating performance and robustness considerations, respectively. In both approaches, first a family of candidate control configurations, characterized by different manipulated inputs, is identified for the process under consideration. Performance considerations are first incorporated via the design of a Lyapunov-based predictive controller that enforces closed-loop stability from an explicitly characterized set of initial conditions (computed using an auxiliary Lyapunov-based nonlinear controller). A hierarchical switching policy is derived, that uses stability considerations (evaluated via the presence of the state in the stability region of a control configuration) to ascertain the suitability of a candidate backup configuration and then performance considerations are again considered in choosing between the suitable backup configurations. Next, we consider the problem of implementing fault-tolerant control to nonlinear processes subject to input constraints and uncertainty. To this end, we first design a robust hybrid predictive controller for each candidate control configuration that guarantees stability from an explicitly characterized set of initial conditions, subject to uncertainty and constraints. A switching policy is then derived to orchestrate the activation/deactivation of the constituent control configurations. Finally, simulation studies are presented to demonstrate the implementation and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed fault-tolerant control method. Copyright (C) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.