DCT-1

Basic (1st Order) DC Transient Analysis

RC & RL Circuits

Reading: Hambley 4.1 – 4.4

Nilsson 7.1 – 7.4
  Review your 1st order differential equations from Calculus 2
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Basic DC Transient Analysis
  We now look at the behavior of DC circuits when the “input” changes
instantaneously. One way to achieve this is through the opening or closing
of a switch connected to a source.

  If a DC circuit contains only resistors and sources, it’s analysis after an

input change is simple Resistors have no memory! Thus, we look
at the new circuit and compute the new static voltages and currents.

  Capacitors and inductors have MEMORY! Therefore, after an

instantaneous change to the input, we need to take into account the
previous state of the capacitors and inductors in our analysis.

  A circuit with only resistors, capacitors, and sources is called a RC circuit.

  Likewise, a circuit with resistors, inductors, and sources is a RL circuit.

  Circuit analysis of RC and RL circuits require the solving of a first-order
linear differential equations.

  We start with a basic examples of charging a capacitor.

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Switches
open switch closed switch

  Switches are used to control the flow of current. They serve

to isolate and to connect. An ideal switch can act as an:
  Open switch: when the conducting metal parts of a switch do
not make contact. The switch is open and current does not flow.
An open switch creates an open circuit.
  Closed switch: when the conducting metal parts of a switch do
make contact. The switch is closed and current can flow.
A closed switch creates a short circuit.
  The effect of opening or closing a switch is instantaneous
and often causes time-varying changes in the circuit behavior
(changes to currents and voltages within the circuit).
  These time-varying effects are called circuit transients.
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Example: RC Circuit with DC Source
Switch closes at

GOAL: Find

  Assume capacitor is free of charge at :

  Capacitor’s voltage cannot change instantaneously though
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RC Circuit with DC Source
Element i-v
KVL: Relations:

(substitution using element relations)

We now have a first-order linear differential equation (DiffEq)

It is a non-homogeneous DiffEq since the right-hand side ≠ 0

The solution will have the form: with initial condition:

is the homogenous solution to the DiffEq

is the particular solution. Matches the “form” of the input term.
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Let’s Consider the Homogenous Solution
dvC dvC 1
RC + vC (t) = 0 = dt
dt vC (t) RC
Rearranging Terms

Integrate Both
Sides

Z Z
t dvC 1
log( vC (t) ) = + K = dt
RC vC (t) RC
exp( ) of both
sides

t t/RC
e log vC (t) (
= e RC + K) vC (t) = K2 e
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Easier Way to Obtain Solution?
  Deriving the homogenous solution like this each time is
tedious and unnecessary for a simple 1st order DiffEq.

  An easier method is to plug in the “form” of the solution back

into the original DiffEq. Then, by grouping terms we can
“equate coefficients” to get the desired solution.

  We can employ the following approach for solving the 1st-order

DiffEqs we’ll encounter in this subject:
  1) Write out the “form” of the solution.
  2) Substitute this solution form into the DiffEq.
  3) Equate coefficients to solve for K1 and s
  4) Use initial condition to solve for K2
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RC Circuit w/ DC Source
(substitute in)
3 Unknowns: K1 , K2 , s

(rearranging terms)

Equating coefficients, we obtain the following two relations:

Substituting these back into the solution form, we now have:

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Analysing the Circuit
We use the initial condition on the capacitor’s voltage to find

Solution:

The solution contains a “transient” response and a

“steady-state” response

Particular solution is particular homogenous

sometimes called the solution solution
“forced solution”
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Solution and the Time Constant
t/
Consider the exponential form: e

is called the time constant for this RC circuit

After 1 time constant ( t = ), the transient response decays by a
factor of e-1 :

After 5τ :

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Transient and Steady-State Responses
  The momentary behavior of a circuit in response to a change
in input is called the transient response.

  It may take infinitely long for the transient response to completely

die out, but it effectively disappears after many time constants.
  For the RC example,

Beyond 5 time constants

  The behavior of a circuit a long time (many time constants)

after the change in input is called the steady-state response.
  The steady-state response is not a function of the circuit s state
before the input change (i.e. initial conditions do not affect it!)
  It is the particular solution of the DiffEq, having the form of the
input function (in our case, it s a constant since it s a DC source)
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Thoughts From The Example
  Since the capacitor’s voltage cannot change instantaneously
(it’s current can though), it appears momentarily as a short circuit
just after the switch is closed at
  Let’s consider the voltage across the resistor and the current
through the series circuit:
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Thoughts From The Example
  At
  There is no current flowing through the circuit.
  There is no voltage drop across the resistor either.
  Source voltage is completely across the capacitor (C is fully charged)

A capacitor appears as an open circuit at DC steady-state

Summary of initial and final “circuit appearance”

C=
short circuit C=
open circuit

Stored energy = ?
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Transient Analysis: RL Circuit with DC Source
Switch closes at

  Assume conductor’s current = 0 at :

  Inductor’s current cannot change instantaneously:

  We wish to find the current through and voltage

across the inductor as a function of time for
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RL Circuit with DC Source
Element i-v
KVL: Relations:

(substitution using element relations)

We now have a first-order linear differential equation (DiffEq)

It is a non-homogeneous DiffEq since the right-hand side ≠ 0

The solution will have the form: with initial condition:

is the homogenous solution to the DiffEq

is the particular solution. Matches the “form” of the input term.
 DCT-16

RL Circuit w/ DC Source
(substitute in)
3 Unknowns: K1 , K2 , s

(rearranging terms)

Equating coefficients, we obtain the following two relations:

Substituting these back into the solution form, we now have:

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Analysing the Circuit
We use the initial condition on the inductor’s current to find

time constant

Solution:

The solution again consists of a “transient” response and

“steady-state” response :

particular homogenous
solution solution
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Solution A

time
constant
time constant

V
= 2 ms
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Thoughts From The Example
  At
  There is no current flowing through the circuit. Inductor
  There is no voltage drop across the resistor either. appears as
  Source voltage is completely across the inductor. open circuit
  At
  There is no voltage drop across the inductor. Inductor
  Source voltage is completely across the resistor appears as
  Constant current flows through the circuit. short circuit

L=
L=
short circuit
open circuit

Stored energy = ?
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Basic Procedure for DC Transient
Analysis of RC & RL Circuits
1) Identify the variable of interest:
  For RC circuits, it typically will be the capacitor voltage:
  For RL circuits, it typically will be the inductor current:

2) Apply KCL or KVL to write a circuit equation in terms of the variable

of interest (generally KVL for series circuit, KCL for parallel circuit).
3) Your circuit equation should be a differential equation. If not,
differentiate any integrals to produce a pure differential equation.
4) Assume a solution of the form:
5) Substitute the solution into the DiffEq to determine K1 and s.
6) Use the initial condition to determine the value of K2.

7) Write the final solution. You can then derive any other required
voltages or currents in the circuit from it.
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RL Example Switch OPENS at

  Assume the circuit is in steady state prior to

  Inductor behaves as a short circuit before the switch opens.
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RL Example
For circuit appears like:

Inductor’s current cannot change

instantaneously

KVL: Substituting, we obtain:

There are no sources driving the circuit, so

the particular (steady state) solution is zero
(all energy eventually dissipated by resistor)
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RL Example

Using the initial current condition:

time constant
Solution:
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RL Example

  Before the switch is opened, the inductor has energy stored in its
magnetic field.
  When the switch is opened, the inductor is returning power to the
circuit (i.e., supplying power). This is clear to see as current and
voltage for the inductor have opposite signs (negative power).
  Eventually, the inductor will use up all its stored energy that it
supplies to the resistor.
  The energy time-function is decaying to zero as evident from the
current decaying to zero.
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Additional Thoughts
  Whereas transient analysis does involves a fair amount of
maths, you can use common sense to check your answers.

  Consider the circuit at steady-state. You can draw the

effective circuit at by taking into account that:
  Capacitors are equivalent to open circuits to steady state DC
  Inductors are equivalent to short circuits to steady state DC

  Solve for the voltages and currents at steady state and

compare to your transient analysis solution with

  We will only be doing DC transient analysis of RL & RC

circuits in this subject. More sophisticated analysis is done in
ELEN30009 Electrical Network Analysis & Design (S1, ’15)
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Steady-State DC Analysis Example
  Let’s consider circuit analysis at and ignore the effects
of any transients.
  Capacitors = open circuits
  Inductors = short circuits
  Initial conditions have no effect on the steady-state behavior

  Example: RLC circuit

Note: you are responsible for steady-state DC analysis of RLC circuits, but you are
NOT responsible for DC transient analysis of RLC circuits.
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Steady-State DC Analysis Examples

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Final Thoughts on Transient Analysis
  Transients can be both desirable and undesirable
  RC circuits can be used to create delays for alarms, motor control, and
other timing applications.
  Digital logic switching does not occur instantaneously. The transition
time (due to a transient signal) in switching between states (0 or 1) must
be taken into account and modeled appropriately.

  We’ve looked at RC and RL circuit responses in the time domain.

These circuits can also analysed in the “frequency domain”.
  From this point of view, they can be seen as analog filters. Such filters
are a critical part of electrical engineering.
  Frequency-domain analysis and transfer functions for electric circuits will
be taught in the subject ELEN30009 next semester.
  A deeper treatment of time-domain and frequency-domain signals and
systems is taught in the subject ELEN300011 in Semester 2, 2015.