Global sensitivity analysis for the boundary control of an open channel

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to solve the global sensitivity analysis for a particular control problem. More precisely, the boundary control problem of an open-water channel is considered, where the boundary conditions are defined by the position of a downstream overflow gate and an upperstream underflow gate. The dynamics of the water depth and of the water velocity are described by the Shallow Water equations, by taking into account the bottom and friction slopes. Since some physical parameters are unknown, a stabilizing boundary control is first computed for their nominal values, and then a sensitivity analysis is performed to measure the impact of the uncertainty in the parameters on a given to-be-controlled output. The unknown physical parameters are described by some probability distribution functions. Numerical simulations are performed to measure the first-order and total sensitivity indices.