Analysis of fractional order systems using newton iteration-based approximation technique

Fractional differential equations play a major role in expressing mathematically the real-world problems as they help attain good fit to the experimental data. It is also known that fractional order controllers are more flexible than integer order controllers. But when it comes to the numerical approximation of fractional order functions inaccuracies arise if the conversion technique is not chosen properly. So, when a fractional order plant model is approximated to an integer order system, it is required that the approximated model be accurate, as the overall system performance is based on the estimated integer order model. Nitisha-Pragya-Carlson (NPC) is a recent approximation technique proposed in 2018 to derive the rational approximation of fractional order differ-integrators. In this paper, three fractional order plant models having fractional powers 3.1, 1.25 and 1.3 is analyzed in frequency domain in terms of magnitude and phase response. The performance of approximated third and second order NPC based integer model is studied and compared with the integer models developed using other existing technique. The approximation error is calculated by comparing the frequency response of the developed models with the ideal response. It has been found that in all the three examples NPC based models are very much close to the ideal values. Hence proving the efficacy of NPC technique in approximation of fractional order systems.