1st World Conference on Technology and Engineering Education 2010 WIETE

Krakw, Poland, 14-17 September 2010

Formulating structural matrices of equations of electric circuits containing

dependent sources, with the use of the Maple program
A.M. Dbrowski, S.A. Mitkowski, A. Porbska & E. Kurgan
AGH University of Science and Technology
Krakw, Poland

ABSTRACT: The method of deriving loop matrix impedances BZBT and the loop voltage vector B(E-ZJ) in electric
linear circuits containing dependent sources, is described in this paper. Primary equations of the electric circuit were
formulated, using the classical method, for the loop current method of network analysis. The transformation of them
was derived within the mathematics software program, Maple. The method of analysis of the electric circuit presented
in this paper was illustrated with an example.

INTRODUCTION

Circuit theory is a fundamental engineering discipline that pervades all electrical engineering, therefore learning electric
circuit theory in electrical engineering education, is important. The goal of circuit theory is to make quantitative and
qualitative calculations of the electrical behaviour of circuits [3]. For electrical engineers not only is it important to
know elementary circuit theory, it is also important to understand the methods for handling more complex circuit
theory.

Students who specialise in electrical engineering or electronics typically need to study not only DC and AC circuits
with techniques such as Kirchhoffs voltage law, Kirchhoffs current law and Ohms law, but also topology methods
with matrix for handling more complex networks. They are usually required to learn how to apply various transform
methods (phasor, Fourier and Laplace) and Fourier-series, in circuit analysis. Understanding concepts from circuit
theory, especially DC and AC electricity, periodic signals and transients, is essential to understanding subjects such as
electronics, telecommunication, power engineering, system theory and automated technology.

Studies into the teaching of electricity and circuit theory have shown that students, even at university or college level,
have difficulties in acquiring a functional understanding of, and distinguishing between, fundamental concepts such as
current, voltage, energy and power. Students lack of qualitative understanding is the reason why difficulties arise in
correctly solving quantitative problems [1]. Insufficient mathematical knowledge is often a barrier for students in the
understanding of the theory of circuits. The way one thinks about mathematics in circuit theory differs from what is
taught in the subject of mathematics. This process is not transparent for students. Mathematical computer programs can
be helpful as a solution to this problem [4][5].

NETWORK ANALYSIS

The goal of network analysis is to determine the voltages and currents associated with the elements of an electrical
network so as to predict the electrical behaviour of real physical circuits. The purpose of these predictions is to improve
their design; particularly to decrease their cost and improve their performance under all conditions of operation.
Kirchhoff laws are fundamental postulates of circuit theory. They are valid regardless of the nature of circuit elements.
Therefore, the separation between the equations of Kirchhoff's laws and that of elements characteristics is natural.

Kirchhoffs equations are prescribed by the topology of the circuit, that is, the way circuit elements are interconnected.
The element characteristic is prescribed by the voltage-current (v-i) relations given by the laws of physics. However,
these equations involve a large quantity of variables. Using graph theory diminishes the number of unknowns. The
theory of graphs plays a fundamental role in exploring the structural properties of electrical circuits [7].

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The graphs are good pictorial representations of circuits and capture all their structural characteristics. In circuit analysis
using graph theory, there is compliance with three transformations: loop transformations, cutest transformations and node
transformations. Only the method of analysis of electric circuits based on loop transformation is applied in this paper.
Given solutions can be applied in the manner of methods of analysis based on extant transformations.

LOOP TRANSFORMATIONS AND LOOP SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

An electrical circuit is an interconnection of electrical network elements, such as resistances, capacitances, inductances,
independent and dependent voltages and current sources. Each network element is associated with two variables: the
voltage variable v(t ) and the current variable i(t ).

The electrical network N can be represented by corresponding with its directed graph G. Let T be a spanning tree of an
electrical network. Let Ic be the column vectors of chord currents and Ib be the column vectors of branch currents with
respect to T. The submatrix of circuit matrix Bc corresponding to the fundamental circuits defined by the chords of a
spanning tree T is called fundamental circuit matrix Bf of G with respect to the spanning tree T. The equation below
presents the loop transformation.

I b = BfT I c (1)

As can be seen from the loop transformations, not all these variables are independent. Furthermore, in place of
Kirchhoffs voltage law equations, the loop transformation, which involves only chord currents as variables, can be
used. Kirchhoffs voltage law is given below:

Bf Vb = 0 (2)

The voltage-current relations for every branch of the electric network are:

Vb = Z N I b (3)

where ZN is the branch impedance matrix.

The advantage of these transformations is that it enables different systems of network equations known as loop systems
to be established. In deriving the loop system, the loop transformation is used, and loop variables (chord currents) serve
as independent variables. Partition of the chord currents vector Ic and element voltage vector Vb is:

I V
I c = c_nsc and Vb = b_nsv (4)
J E

where Ic_nsc is the vector of currents in the non-current source chords of G, J is the current sources vector, Vb_nsv is the
vector of branches voltage in the non-voltage source and E is the voltage sources vector.

Using the above-dependencies, this equation is derived:

Bf Z N BfT I c _ ns = Bf (E Z N J ) (5)

Equation 5 is called the loop system of equations and matrix Bf Z N BfT is the loop impedance matrix.

Since presenting examples is a fundamental element of the didactic process, a computational example is introduced
below that illustrates the problems above. The formulation of structural matrices of the electric circuit, with the help of
the Maple software program, is given below.

THE MATHEMATICAL PROGRAM, MAPLE

There are a few very good commercial programmer environments for mathematical computations and one of them is
Maple. Maple is useful technical computing software for engineers, mathematicians, scientists and educators [2][6].

Taking into consideration a large quantity of literature and, especially, the availability of free examples on the Internet, the
authors of this paper decided to use this program to solve problems connected with circuit theory. Maple is a complete
mathematical problem-solving environment that supports a wide variety of mathematical operations, such as numerical
analysis, symbolic algebra and graphics. It allows a choice of more than 4,000 commands ranging from performing basic

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arithmetic and algebra, to computations involving advanced topics such as tensor analysis, group theory, and more. Maple
offers interactive mathematical visualisation, a user interface with typeset mathematics, word processing facilities, and a
modern programming language, making it powerful and flexible for users in education, research and industry. Maple is a
large and complicated program. But despite that, thanks to the examples, it is relatively easy to use to solve different
assignments in the field of circuit theory. Using Maple makes it possible to work in interactive mode.

To carry out calculations, develop design sheets, teach fundamental concepts or create complicated simulation models,
Maples computation engine can handle every type of mathematics. With Maple, interactive documents can be created.
The software has two modes: Document mode and Worksheet mode. Document mode is designed for performing
calculations quickly.

Worksheet mode is designed for interactive use through commands and programming using the Maple language. The
example below was derived by exploiting the Worksheet mode using Text mode (1-D Math).

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE

Shown below in Figure 1 is the variety of symbols of the graphic elements of the electric circuit.

Figure 1: a) Impedance Zk with current Ik and voltage Vk, b) Independent voltage source, c) Dependent voltage source,
d) Independent current source, e) Dependent current source.

Now consider linear circuit impedances, as well as independent and dependent voltage source and current sources. The
schema of the electrical network N and graph G representation of N are shown in Figure 1. Branch circuits correspond
to graph edges.

Figure 2: a) The electrical network N, b) Graph G representation of N.

Consider also the connected graph and its spanning tree. A sub-graph of G is a spanning tree of G if the sub-graph is a
tree and contains all the vertices of G. The spanning tree of the graph of Figure 2b) is shown in Figure 3b). Edges of a
spanning tree T are called the branches of T. The branches of the tree are marked with double lines. For the given
spanning tree of connected graph G, the co-spanning tree relative to T is the sub-graph of G induced by the edges that
are not present in T. The edges of a co-spanning tree are called chords. The co-spanning tree relative to the spanning
tree T of Figure 3b) consists of these chords: c1, c2, c6, c8, c9. The spanning tree T was chosen so as to make voltages and
currents - which control dependent voltage sources and current - to be in chords.

Figure 3: The electrical network N and its graph with a spanning tree and directed co-spanning tree.

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Because only current chords are of interest to the method discussed here, only those signals were marked. The chord
currents vector Ic is as follows:

I1
I
I c_nsc
2
Ic = = I6 (6)
J J
8
J9

Wanted unknown chord currents are:

I c_nsc = [I1 I2 I 6 ]T (7)

The voltages and currents which control dependent sources are expressed respectively by means of chord currents and
independent voltages and current sources. In the case of the electric circuit here, there is:

V = Z5I5 + Z6 I6 (8)

Because the currents of the branches of the spanning tree are linear, the (8) equation can be changed to:

V = Z 5 ( I 2 I 2 ) + Z 6 I 6 (9)

Shown below is how Maple is used to perform mathematical transformations. The linalg packages (Maple library)
contain functions that help users to work with matrix and linear system equations. An equation can be created in Maple
by any method which leads to the construction of algebraic (or any other) equations.

The restart command causes the Maple kernel to clear internal memory so that it then acts (almost) as if it has just begun.

> restart;with(linalg):

Equations of the relations of voltage-current for dependent sources.

> E[10]:=k*V;
E10 := k V
> J[9]:=alpha*Ic[2];
J9 := Ic2
> V:=Z[5]*(Ic[2]-J[9])-Z[6]*Ic[6];
V := Z5 ( Ic2 Ic2 ) Z6 Ic6

Kirchhoffs voltage law equation around loop with chord c1 is written as:

> KVL1:=Z[1]*Ic[1] = E[1]-k*V;

KVL1 := Z1 Ic1 = E1 k ( Z5 ( Ic2 Ic2 ) Z6 Ic6 )

Kirchhoff's voltage law equation around loop with chord c2 is written as:

> KVL2:=(Z[2]+Z[4]+Z[5]+Z[7])*Ic[2]+Z[7]*Ic[6]+(Z[4]+Z[7])*J[8]-(Z[5]+Z[7])*J[9] =E2+k*V;

KVL2 := ( Z2 + Z4 + Z5 + Z7 ) Ic2 + Z7 Ic6 + ( Z4 + Z7 ) J8 ( Z5 + Z7 ) Ic2 =
E2 + k ( Z5 ( Ic2 Ic2 ) Z6 Ic6 )

Kirchhoff's voltage law equation around loop with chord c6 is written as:

> KVL3:=Z[7]*Ic[2]+(Z[3]+Z[7]+Z[6])*Ic[6]-Z[7]*J[8]+(Z[3]+Z[7])*J[9] = -E[3];

KVL3 := Z7 Ic2 + ( Z3 + Z7 + Z6 ) Ic6 Z7 J8 + ( Z3 + Z7 ) Ic2 = E3

Loop system of equations:

> set_eqn:= [KVL1,KVL2,KVL3]:

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 T
Determining loop impedance matrix Bf Z N Bf and matrix Bf (E Z N J ) uses the following:

> BZBT:=genmatrix(set_eqn,[Ic[1],Ic[2],Ic[6]],'b');

Z1 k Z5 ( 1 ) k Z6

BZBT := 0 ( Z5 + Z7 ) + Z2 + Z4 + Z5 + Z7 k Z5 ( 1 ) Z7 + k Z6


0 ( Z3 + Z7 ) + Z7 Z3 + Z7 + Z6

> B:=eval(b):BE_ZJ:=matrix(3,1,B);Icns:=matrix(3,1,[Ic[1],Ic[2],Ic[6]]);

E1 Ic1
E2 ( Z + Z ) J
BE_ZJ := 4 7 8 Icns := Ic2

E3 + Z7 J8 Ic
6

Then, explore the properties of the loop impedance matrix and find vector of currents Ic_nsc in the non-source chords.
Remaining currents and voltages in the electric circuit can be calculated from equations (1) and (3).

CONCLUSIONS

The authors have shown in this paper how the mathematics software program, Maple, can be used effectively to
formulate structural matrices of the loop system of electric circuit equations. Without performing many intermediate
computations, and with the help of Maple, the loop impedance matrix for linear circuits was found. Similarly, using the
Maple program, an elegant system of equations and node equations can be formulated.

The Maple code demonstrated above is relatively simple. It is easy to draw and animate the solution, too. The
symbolic, numerical and graphical features of mathematical programs allow students to carry out mathematical analysis
of circuits without time-consuming calculations and to explore easily the behaviour of a system.

REFERENCES

1. Bernhard, J., Activity-based education in basic electricity and circuit theory, http://www.itn.liu.se/~jonbe/
2. Char, B.W., Maple User Manual. Waterloo, Canada: Maple Inc. (2009).
3. Chua, L., Desoer, C. and Kuh, E., Linear and Nonlinear Circuits. USA: McGraw-Hill Book Company (1987).
4. Dbrowski, A.M., Mathematical programmes in teaching of circuit theory. Proc. XVI BSE2002, Gliwice, Poland,
32-37 (2002).
5. Dbrowski, A.M., Computer programmes in teaching of electrical engineering. Proc. XVII BSE2003, Istebna-
Zaolzie, Poland, 128-133 (2003).
6. Monagan, M., Geddes, K. and Heal, K., Maple Introductory Programming Guide. Waterloo, Canada: Maple Inc.
(2009).
7. Swamy, M.N.S. and Thulasiraman, K., Graphs, networks, and algorithms. New York: Wiley Interscience (1981).

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