State-space models of lumped and distributed systems (Q1188551)

This book is an English translation of a book which in Serbo-Croatian was called ``Process Dynamics''. Its content is part of the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum at the University of Zagreb. The book is written for scientists, practising engineers and students interested in the analysis of system dynamics. It aims at providing the basic techniques for setting up a dynamic mathematical model by means of the fundamental laws of physics. To this end quite different processes of thermal, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic and chemical nature are discussed in detail throughout the book. Starting with some introductory remarks on basic concepts, nomenclature and process classification, the book is subdivided into two main chapters, namely on lumped parameter processes, described by ordinary differential equations and distributed parameter processes, described by partial differential equations. Special attention is devoted to the connections between the parameters of the physical world and abstract concepts of eigenvalues, poles and zeros of state space models and their related Laplace representations in the complex s-domain. The book, whose style is not too mathematical, is essentially of an exemplary nature. A wealth of important basic processes from various engineering fields are treated in detail. This makes the book a valuable collection of plant models, useful for analysts and designers of control systems.