This dissertation addresses the control problem for the general class of control non-affine, non-standard singularly perturbed continuous-time systems. The problem of control for nonlinear multiple time scale systems is addressed here for the first time in a systematic manner. Toward this end, this dissertation develops the theory of feedback passivation for non-affine systems. This is done by generalizing the Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov lemma for non-affine systems. This generalization is used to identify conditions under which non-affine systems can be rendered passive. Asymptotic stabilization for non-affine systems is guaranteed by using these conditions along with well-known passivity-based control methods. Unlike previous non-affine control approaches, the constructive static compensation technique derived here does not make any assumptions regarding the control influence on the nonlinear dynamical model. Along with these control laws, this dissertation presents novel hierarchical control design procedures to address the two major difficulties in control of multiple time scale systems: lack of an explicit small parameter that models the time scale separation and the complexity of constructing the slow manifold. These research issues are addressed by using insights from geometric singular perturbation theory and control laws are designed without making any assumptions regarding the construction of the slow manifold. The control schemes synthesized accomplish asymptotic slow state tracking for multiple time scale systems and simultaneous slow and fast state trajectory tracking for two time scale systems. The control laws are independent of the scalar perturbation parameter and an upper bound for it is determined such that closed-loop system stability is guaranteed. Performance of these methods is validated in simulation for several problems from science and engineering including the continuously stirred tank reactor, magnetic levitation, six degrees-of-freedom F-18/A Hornet model, non-minimum phase helicopter and conventional take-off and landing aircraft models. Results show that the proposed technique applies both to standard and non-standard forms of singularly perturbed systems and provides asymptotic tracking irrespective of the reference trajectory. This dissertation also shows that some benchmark non-minimum phase aerospace control problems can be posed as slow state tracking for multiple time scale systems and techniques developed here provide an alternate method for exact output tracking.

In this thesis, we study the normally elliptic singular perturbation problems including both finite and infinite dimensional cases, which could also be non-autonomous. In particular, we establish the existence and smoothness of O(1) local invariant manifolds and provide various estimates which are independent of small singular parameters. We also use our results on local invariant manifolds to study the persistence of homoclinic solutions under weakly dissipative and conservative per- turbations. We apply Semi-group Theory and Lyapunov-Perron Integral Equations with some careful estimates to handle the O(1) driving force in the system so that we can approximate the full system through some simpler limiting system. In the investigation of homoclinics, a diagonalization procedure and some normal form transformation should be first carried out. Such diagonalization procedure is not trivial at all. We discuss this issue in the appendix. We use Melnikov type analysis to study the weakly dissipative case, while the conservative case is based on some energy methods. As a concrete example, we have shown rigrously the persistence of homoclinic solutions of an elastic pendulum model which may be affected by damping, external forcing and other potential fields.

Singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion problems exhibit in general solutions with anisotropic features, e.g. strong boundary and/or interior layers. This anisotropy is reflected in the discretization by using meshes with anisotropic elements. The quality of the numerical solution rests on the robustness of the a posteriori error estimator with respect to both the perturbation parameters of the problem and the anisotropy of the mesh. The simplest local error estimator from the implementation point of view is the so-called hierarchical error estimator. The reliability proof is usually based on two prerequisites: the saturation assumption and the strengthened Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. The proofs of these facts are extended in the present work for the case of the singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion equation and of the meshes with anisotropic elements. It is shown that the constants in the corresponding estimates do neither depend on the aspect ratio of the elements, nor on the perturbation parameters. Utilizing the above arguments the concluding reliability proof is provided as well as the efficiency proof of the estimator, both independent of the aspect ratio and perturbation parameters.

In this thesis, a reversible Lotka-Volterra model was proposed to study the nonlinear oscillation of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky(BZ) reaction in a closed isothermal chemical system. The reaction zone can be divided into two zones, oscillation zone and transition zone, where the oscillation time and the transition time and the number of the complete oscillations are estimated. By applying the geometric singular perturbation method, it was proved that there exist an oscillation axis in the oscillation zone, a strongly stable two-dimensional invariant manifold in transition zone, on which there is also a one-dimensional stable invariant manifold, which is the part of the central axis. There is no oscillation in the vicinity of the equilibrium, as indicated by Onsager's reciprocal symmetry relation. Furthermore, the damped oscillation is studied in terms of the action-action-angle variables. In the end, the model reference control technique is employed to control the oscillation amplitude in the BZ reaction.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-104).

Singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion problems exhibit in general solutions with anisotropic features, e.g. strong boundary and/or interior layers. This anisotropy is reflected in the discretization by using meshes with anisotropic elements. The quality of the numerical solution rests on the robustness of the a posteriori error estimator with respect to both the perturbation parameters of the problem and the anisotropy of the mesh. An estimator that has shown to be one of the most reliable for reaction-diffusion problem is the <i>equilibrated residual method</i> and its modification done by Ainsworth and Babuška for singularly perturbed problem. However, even the modified method is not robust in the case of anisotropic meshes. The present work modifies the equilibrated residual method for anisotropic meshes. The resulting error estimator is equivalent to the equilibrated residual method in the case of isotropic meshes and is proved to be robust on anisotropic meshes as well. A numerical example confirms the theory.

A singularly perturbed reaction diffusion problem is considered. The small diffusion coefficient generically leads to solutions with boundary layers. The problem is discretized by a vertex-centered finite volume method. The anisotropy of the solution is reflected by using \emph{anisotropic meshes} which can improve the accuracy of the discretization considerably. The main focus is on \emph{a posteriori} error estimation. A residual type error estimator is proposed and rigorously analysed. It is shown to be robust with respect to the small perturbation parameter. The estimator is also robust with respect to the mesh anisotropy as long as the anisotropic mesh sufficiently reflects the anisotropy of the solution (which is almost always the case for sensible discretizations). Altogether, reliable and efficient \emph{a posteriori} error estimation is achieved for the finite volume method on anisotropic meshes.

A singularly perturbed reaction diffusion problem is considered. The small diffusion coefficient generically leads to solutions with boundary layers. The problem is discretized by a vertex-centered finite volume method. The anisotropy of the solution is reflected by using \emph{anisotropic meshes} which can improve the accuracy of the discretization considerably. The main focus is on \emph{a posteriori} error estimation. A residual type error estimator is proposed and rigorously analysed. It is shown to be robust with respect to the small perturbation parameter. The estimator is also robust with respect to the mesh anisotropy as long as the anisotropic mesh sufficiently reflects the anisotropy of the solution (which is almost always the case for sensible discretizations). Altogether, reliable and efficient \emph{a posteriori} error estimation is achieved for the finite volume method on anisotropic meshes.

A recent method for solving singular perturbation problems is examined. It is designed for the applied mathematician or engineer who needs a convenient, useful tool that requires little preparation and can be readily implemented using little more than an industry-standard software package for spreadsheets. In this paper, we shall examine singularly perturbed two point boundary value problems with the boundary layer at one end point. An initial-value technique is used for its solution by replacing the problem with an asymptotically equivalent first order problem, which is, in turn, solved as an initial value problem by using cubic splines. Numerical examples are provided to show that the method presented provides a fine approximation of the exact solution. The first chapter provides some background material to the cubic spline and boundary value problems. The works of several authors and a comparison of different solution methods are also discussed. Finally, some background into the specific singularly perturbed boundary value problems is introduced. The second chapter contains calculations and derivations necessary for the cubic spline and the initial value technique which are used in the solutions to the boundary value problems. The third chapter contains some worked numerical examples and the numerical data obtained along with most of the tables and figures that describe the solutions. The thesis concludes with some reflections on the results obtained and some discussion of the error bounds on the calculated approximations to the exact solutions for the numeric examples discussed

A real-time computer algorithm to control and optimize aircraft flight profiles is described and applied to a three-dimensional minimum-time intercept mission. The proposed scheme has roots in two well-known techniques: singular perturbations and neighboring-optimal guidance. Use of singular-perturbation ideas is made in terms of the assumed trajectory-family structure. A heading/energy family of prestored point-mass-model state-Euler solutions is used as the baseline in this scheme. The next step is to generate a near-optimal guidance law that will transfer the aircraft to the vicinity of this reference family. The control commands fed to the autopilot consist of the reference controls plus correction terms which are linear combinations of the altitude and path-angle deviations from reference values, weighted by a set of precalculated gains. In this respect the proposed scheme resembles neighboring-optimal guidance. However, in contrast to the neighboring-optimal guidance scheme, the reference control and state variables as well as the feedback gains are stored as functions of energy and heading in the present approach. A detailed description of the feedback laws and of some of the mathematical tools used to construct the controller is presented. The construction of the feedback laws requires a substantial preflight computational effort, but the computation times for on-board execution of the feedback laws are very modest. Other issues relating to practical implementation are addressed as well. Numerical examples, comparing open-loop optimal and approximate feedback solutions for a sample high-performance fighter, illustrate the attractiveness of the guidance scheme. Optimal three-dimensional flight in the presence of a terrain limit is studied in some detail. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata