Output Feedback Control of the One-Phase Stefan Problem

Abstract: In this paper, a backstepping observer and an output feedback control law are designed for the stabilization of the one-phase Stefan problem. The present result is an improvement of the recent full state feedback backstepping controller proposed in our previous contribution. The one-phase Stefan problem describes the time-evolution of a temperature profile in a liquid-solid material and its liquid-solid moving interface. This phase transition problem is mathematically formulated as a 1-D diffusion Partial Differential Equation (PDE) of the melting zone defined on a time-varying spatial domain described by an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE). We propose a backstepping observer allowing to estimate the temperature profile along the melting zone based on the available measurement, namely, the solid phase length. The designed observer and the output feedback controller ensure the exponential stability of the estimation errors, the moving interface, and the ${\cal H}_1$-norm of the distributed temperature while keeping physical constraints, which is shown with the restriction on the gain parameter of the observer and the setpoint.