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Rules for Making Bode Plots

Term Magnitude Phase
Constant: K 20 log
10
(|K|)
K>0: 0
K<0: 180
Real Pole:
0
1
s
1 +
e

- Low freq. asymptote at 0 dB
- High freq. asymptote at -20 dB/dec
- Connect asymptotic lines at e
0
,
- Low freq. asymptote at 0.
- High freq. asymptote at
-90.
- Connect with straight line
from 0.1 e
0
to 10 e
0
.
Real Zero
*
:
0
s
1 +
e

- Low freq. asymptote at 0 dB
- High freq. asymptote at +20 dB/dec.
- Connect asymptotic lines at e
0
.
- Low freq. asymptote at 0.
- High freq. asymptote at
+90.
- Connect with line from
0.1 e
0
to 10 e
0
.
Pole at Origin:
1
s

- -20 dB/dec; through 0 dB at e=1. - -90 for all e.
Zero at Origin
*
: s - +20 dB/dec; through 0 dB at e=1. - +90 for all e.
Underdamped Poles:


2
0 0
1
s s
2 1
| | | |
+ , +
| |
e e
\ . \ .

- Low freq. asymptote at 0 dB.
- High freq. asymptote at -40 dB/dec.
- Connect asymptotic lines at e
0
.
- Draw peak

at freq.
2
r 0
1 2 e = e ,

with amplitude
( )
( )
2
r 10
H j 20 log 2 1 e = , ,


- Low freq. asymptote at 0.
- High freq. asymptote at
-180.
- Connect with straight line
from

10
0 0
10
2
log
2
to
2 2
log
| |
|
,
\ .
e = e e = e
| |
|
,
\ .

Underdamped Zeros
*
:


2
0 0
s s
2 1
| | | |
+ , +
| |
e e
\ . \ .

- Draw low freq. asymptote at 0 dB.
- Draw high freq. asymptote at +40
dB/dec.
- Connect asymptotic lines at e
0
.
- Draw dip

at freq. 0
r
2
1 2
e
e =
,
with
amplitude
( )
( )
2
r 10
H j 20 log 2 1 e = + , ,
.
- Low freq. asymptote at 0.
- Draw high freq. asymptote
at +180.
- Connect with a straight
line from

10
0 0
10
2
log
2
to
2 2
log
| |
|
,
\ .
e = e e = e
| |
|
,
\ .


Notes:
* Rules for drawing zeros create the mirror image (around 0 dB, or 0) of those for a pole with the same e
0
.
For underdamped poles and zeros peak exists only for 1
0 0.707
2
< , < =
and peak freq. is typically very near e
0
.
For underdamped poles and zeros If ,<0.02 draw phase vertically from 0 to -180 degrees at e
0

For n
th
order pole or zero make asymptotes, peaks and slopes n times higher than shown (i.e., second order asymptote
is -40 dB/dec, and phase goes from 0 to 180
o
). Dont change frequencies, only plot values and slopes.

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Quick Reference for Making Bode Plots

If starting with a transfer function of the form (some of the coefficients b
i
, a
i
may be zero).
n
1 0
m
1 0
s b s b
H(s) C
s a s a
+ + +
=
+ + +


Factor polynomial into real factors and complex conjugate pairs (p can be positive, negative, or zero; p is zero if a
0
and b
0
are both non-zero).
( )( ) ( )( )
( )( ) ( )( )
2 2 2 2
z1 z2 z1 0z1 0z1 z2 0z2 0z2
p
2 2 2 2
p1 p2 p1 0p1 0p1 p2 0p2 0p2
s s s 2 s s 2 s
H(s) C s
s s s 2 s s 2 s
+ e + e + , e + e + , e + e
=
+ e + e + , e + e + , e + e


Put polynomial into standard form for Bode Plots.
2 2
z1 z2
2 2
z1 z2 0z1 0z1 0z2 0z2
p z1 z2 0z1 0z2
2 2 2
p1 p2 0p1 0p2
p1
p1 p2 0p1 0p1
s s s s s s
1 1 2 1 2 1
H(s) C s
s s s s
1 1 2
| || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | + + + , + + , +
| | | | | |
| | e e e e e e
\ .\ . \ . \ . \ . \ . e e e e
\ .\ .
=
e e e e
| || | | |
+ + + ,
| | |
| | |
e e e e
\ .\ . \ .
2
p2
0p2 0p2
2 2
z1 z2
z1 z2 0z1 0z1 0z2 0z2
p
p1 p2 0p
s s
1 2 1
s s s s s s
1 2 1 2 1
K s
s s s
1 1
| || |
| | | | | |
| |
+ + , +
| | |
| | |
e e | |
\ . \ . \ .
\ .\ .
| || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | + + + , + + , +
| | | | | |
| | e e e e e e
\ .\ . \ . \ . \ . \ .
\ .\ .
=
| || |
+ +
| |
| |
e e e
\ .\ .
2 2
p1 p2
1 0p1 0p2 0p2
s s s
2 1 2 1
| || |
| | | | | | | |
| |
+ , + + , +
| | | |
| | | |
e e e | |
\ . \ . \ . \ .
\ .\ .


Take the terms (constant, real poles and zeros, origin poles and zeros, complex poles and zeros) one by one and plot magnitude and phase
according to rules on previous page. Add up resulting plots.

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Matlab Tools for Bode Plots
>> n=[1 11 10]; %A numerator polynomial (arbitrary)
>> d=[1 10 10000 0]; %Denominator polynomial (arbitrary)
>> sys=tf(n,d)
Transfer function:
s^2 + 11 s + 10
----------------------
s^3 + 10 s^2 + 10000 s

>> damp(d) %Find roots of den. If complex, show zeta, wn.
Eigenvalue Damping Freq. (rad/s)
0.00e+000 -1.00e+000 0.00e+000
-5.00e+000 + 9.99e+001i 5.00e-002 1.00e+002
-5.00e+000 - 9.99e+001i 5.00e-002 1.00e+002

>> damp(n) %Repeat for numerator
Eigenvalue Damping Freq. (rad/s)
-1.00e+000 1.00e+000 1.00e+000
-1.00e+001 1.00e+000 1.00e+001

>> %Use Matlab to find frequency response (hard way).
>> w=logspace(-2,4); %omega goes from 0.01 to 10000;
>> fr=freqresp(sys,w);
>> subplot(211); semilogx(w,20*log10(abs(fr(:)))); title('Mag response, dB')
>> subplot(212); semilogx(w,angle(fr(:))*180/pi); title('Phase resp, degrees')

>> %Let Matlab do all of the work
>> bode(sys)

>> %Find Freq Resp at one freq. %Hard way
>> fr=polyval(n,j*10)./polyval(d,j*10)
fr = 0.0011 + 0.0010i

>> %Find Freq Resp at one freq. %Easy way
>> fr=freqresp(sys,10)
fr = 0.0011 + 0.0009i

>> abs(fr)
ans = 0.0014

>> angle(fr)*180/pi %Convert to degrees
ans = 38.7107


>> %You can even find impulse and step response from transfer function.
>> step(sys)
>> impulse(sys)


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>> [n,d]=tfdata(sys,'v') %Get numerator and denominator.
n =
0 1 11 10
d =
1 10 10000 0

>> [z,p,k]=zpkdata(sys,'v') %Get poles and zeros
z =
-10
-1
p =
0
-5.0000 +99.8749i
-5.0000 -99.8749i
k =
1



>> %Matlab program to show individual terms of Bode Plot.
>> %Code is available at
>> % http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/echeeve1/Ref/Bode/BodePlotGui.html
>> BodePlotGui(sys)