Chapter 5 Root Locus Synthesis
© National Instruments Corporation 5-5 Xmath Interactive Control Design Module
Phase ContoursFor each of magnitude and phase contours, you can choose one of three 
possible plotting styles.
• 180°
The plot shows the locus of points where the phase angle of the loop 
transfer function is 180°. This yields a conventional root locus display. 
This is the default phase contour plotting style. The plot shows the set 
of all possible closed-loop pole locations as the gain is swept from 
0to∞.
• 160°200°10°
The plot shows the loci of points where the phase angle of the loop 
transfer function is 160°, 170°, 180°, 190°, or 200°. These plots show 
the set of all possible closed-loop pole locations as the gain is swept 
from 0 to and there is an additional phase shift of ±20°, ±10° in the 
loop transfer function.
• None
No phase contours are plotted.
Magnitude Contours•0 dB
The plot shows the locus of points where the magnitude of the loop 
transfer function (including the delay, if applicable) is 0 dB.
•  –2:2 dB
The plot shows the loci of points where the magnitude of the loop 
transfer function is –2, –1, 0, +1, and +2 dB, respectively.
• None
No magnitude contours are plotted. This is the default magnitude 
contour plotting style.
Notice that by selecting None for both phase and magnitude contours, the 
plot shows only the controller and plant poles and zeros. This is useful for 
graphically editing the controller poles and zeros.
If any phase contours are plotted, the closed-loop poles are shown (in blue 
on a color display). They can be dragged along the 180° contour plot.