TIME RESPONSE ANALYSIS:

 The time response of a system is the output of the closed loop system as a function of
time.
 The time response of a control system is usually divided into two parts:
o Transient response
o Steady state response
 Let c(t) denote the time response of a continuous data system. It can be written as

c(t )  ct (t )  css (t )

 In control systems, the transient response is defined as that part of the time response
that goes to zero as time becomes very large.

Lt ct (t )  0
t 

 The transient response is also called the dynamic response of the system.

 The steady state response is the part of the total response that remains after the
transient has died out.

 In order to analyse the transient and steady state behaviour of control systems, the
first step is always to obtain a mathematical model of the system.

 For any specific input signal, a complete time response can then be obtained through
the Laplace transform inversion. This expression yields ormaly for a step input

STANDARD TEST SIGNALS:

1. STEP SIGNAL:
The step is a signal whose value changes from one level(usually zero) to another level
A in zero time. The mathematical representation of the step function is
r(t)= Au(t)
where u(t)=1; t>0
=0; t<0 is called the unit step function.
In the Laplace transform, R(s)=A/s
2. RAMP SIGNAL:
The ramp is a signal which starts at a value of zero and increases linearly with time.
Mathematically,
r(t)= At; t>0
=0; t<0
In the Laplace transform form,

3. PARABOLIC SIGNAL:
The parabolic function represents a signal that is one order faster than the ramp
function. The mathematical representation of this signal is

2
r (t )  At ;t  0
2
 0; t  0
In Laplace transform form
R( s )  A 3 = 0; t<0
s

4. IMPULSE SIGNAL:
A unit impulse is defined as a signal which has zero value everywhere except at t=0
where its magnitude is infinite. It is generally called the δ function and has the
following property.
 (t )  0; t  0


  (t )dt  1


Where  tends to zero.

In the Laplace transform  (s)  1

Impulse signal is derivative of step signal.

The impulse response of a system with transfer function

C (s)  G(s) R(s)

 G( s)
c(t )  L1G(s)  g (t )
Thus, the impulse response of a system, indicated by g (t ) , is the inverse Laplace
transform of its transfer function. This is sometimes referred to as weighting function
of the system.
The weighting function of a system can be used to find the system’s responses to any
input r(t) by means of convolution integral. Thus
t
c(t )   g (t   )r ( )d
0

TIME RESPONSE OF FIRST ORDER SYSTEMS:

Consider the first order unity feedback system shown in figure.

Physically the system may represent an RC circuit. A simplified block diagram is

shown in fig.
The transfer function is given by
C ( s) 1

R( s) Ts  1
UNIT STEP RESPONSE OF FIRST ORDER SYSTEMS:
For the unit-step input, R(s)  1/ s
So the output response is given by
1 1
C ( s)  .
s Ts  1
Expanding into partial fractions
1 T 1 s
C ( s)    
s Ts  1 s s  1
T
Taking the inverse Laplace transform of the above equation,
t
c(t )  1  e T , for t  0
This states that the output rises exponentially from zero value to the final value of
unity.

The time constant is indicative of how fast the system tends to reach the final value.
A large time constant corresponds to a sluggish system
A small time constant corresponds to a fast response.
The speed of response can be quantitatively defined as the time for the output to
become a particular percentage of its final value.
The error response of the system is given by
t
e(t )  r (t )  c(t )  e T
The steady state error is given by
ess  Lt e(t )  0
t 

That means the first order system tracks the unit step input with zero steady state
error.
For t  4T , the response remains within 2% of the final value.

SECOND ORDER SYSTEMS:

Response of second order system to the unit step input:
Consider the second order system shown

The closed loop transfer function C(s)/R(s) of the system is given by

C ( s) n2
 2
R( s) s  2n s  n2
Where  -Damping ratio (Damping factor)
n -Undamped natural frequency
This form is called the standard form of the second order system.
 The dynamic behaviour of the second order system can be described in terms
of two parameters  and n .
 If  =0, the poles are purely imaginary and lie on the j axis. The system is
then called undamped.
 If 0<  <1, the closed loop poles are complex conjugates and lie in the left half
of the s- plane. The system is then called underdamped, and the transient
response is oscillatory.
 If  =1, the poles are real negative and equal. The system is called critically
damped. The response rises slowly and reaches the final value.
 If  >1, the poles are real, negative and unequal. The system is called
overdamped. The output rises towards its final value slowly.
 Critically damped and overdamped systems do not exhibit any overshoot.
 The time response of any system is characterised by the roots of the
denominator polynomial q(s), which are the poles of the transfer function.
 The denominator polynomial q(s) is therefore called the characteristic
polynomial and q(s)=0 is called the characteristic equation.
 The characteristic equation of the system under consideration is
s  2n s  n2  0
2

 The roots of the characteristic equation are given by

s  2n s  n2  (s  s1 )(s  s2 )
2

For  <1,
s1 , s2  n  jn 1   2  n  jd where d  n 1   2 is called the damped
natural frequency.
Most control systems with the exception of robotic control systems are designed with
damping factor  <1, to have high response speed.

Response of an underdamped system( 0    1 ):

In this case, C(s)/R(s) can be written as
C ( s) n2 n2
 2 
R( s) s  2n s  n2 ( s  n  jd )( s  n  jd )
For a unit step input, R(s)=1/s. Therefore, the above equation becomes
C ( s) n2

R( s) s( s 2  2n s  n2 )
1 s  2n
  2
s ( s  2n s  n2 )
1 s  2n
 
s [( s  n )2  n2  n2 2 ]
1 s  n  d
   n.
s ( s  n )  d d ( s  n )2  d2
2 2

1 s  n  d
   .
s ( s  n )  d
2 2
1   2 ( s  n )  d
2 2

Taking the inverse Laplace transform of the above equation

nt  ent
c(t )  1  e cos d t  sin d t
1  2
 1
ent
1  2  1   2 cos d t   sin d t 
ent
 1  sin  cos d t  cos  sin d t 
1  2
ent
 1 sin(d t   )
1  2
ent 1  2
 1 sin(n 1   2 t  tan 1 ) for t  0
1  2 
The error signal exhibits a damped sinusoidal oscillation.
At steady state or at t   , no error exists between the output and input.
If   0 , the response becomes undamped and oscillations continue indefinitely.
The response c(t) for zero damping case is
c(t )  1  cos nt for t  0
Thus, n represents the undamped natural frequency.
d  n for   0
d  n for   0
The time response of an undamped second order system is shown below.

It is damped sinusoidal.
The response reaches a steady state value of , i.e, the steady state error of this system
approaches zero.
The time response for various values of  plotted against normalised time nt is
shown in the below figure.
The system breaks into continuous oscillations for   0
 As  is increased, the response becomes progressively less oscillatory till it becomes
critically damped(just non-oscillatory) for   1 , and becomes overdamped for   1 .

TIME RESPONSE SPECIFICATIONS:

1) Delay time td
The delay time is the time required for the response to reach 50% of the final value
for the very first time.

2) Rise time tr
The rise time is the time required for the response to rise from 0 to 100% of the final
value for underdamped system and from 10% to 90% of the final value for
overdamped systems.
 3) Peak time t p
The peak time is the time required for the response to reach the first peak of the
overshoot.

4) Peak overshoot M p :
The peak or maximum overshoot is the maximum peak value of the response curve
measured from unity.
If the final steady state value of the response differs from unity, then it is common to
use the maximum percent overshoot.
c(t )  c()
Maximum percent overshoot= p X 100%
c ( )
The amount of maximum (peak) overshoot directly indicates the relative stability of
the system.

5) Settling time t s
The settling time is the time required for the response curve to reach and stay within a
particular tolerance band (usually 2% or 5% of its final value).

6) Steady state error ess

It indicates the error between the actual output and the desired output as t tends to
infinity.
ess  Lt [r (t )  c(t )]
t 

In most cases, it is desirable that the transient response be sufficiently fast and be sufficiently
damped.
Thus, for a desirable transient response, the damping ratio must be between 0.4 and 0.8.
For large values of  (  0.8) the system responds sluggishly.

DERIVATION OF EXPRESSION FOR RISE TIME, PEAK TIME, PEAK OVERSHOOT,

SETTLING TIME AND STEADY STATE ERROR

RISE TIME tr

The output of a second order underdamped system excited by a unit step input is given by

ent
c(t )  1  sin(d t   )
1  2

Rise time is defined as the time taken by the output to rise from 0 to 100% of the final value.

At t  tr , c(tr )  1

entr
Therefore, 1  1  sin(d tr   )
1  2
 entr
sin(d tr   )  0
1  2

entr
Since  0 , sin(d tr   )  0  sin 
1  2

d tr    

d tr    

Therefore the rise time

1  2
  tan 1
  
tr  
d n 1   2

For a small value of tr , d must be large.

PEAK TIME t p

The output of a second order underdamped system excited by a unit step input is given by

ent
c(t )  1  sin(d t   )
1  2

Peak time is defined as the time at which the maximum value of magnitude occurs.

Therefore, at t  t p , the slope of c(t) must be zero.

dc(t ) ent ent

|t t p   cos(d t   ).d  sin(d t   ) (n ) |t t p  0
dt 1  2 1  2

n sin(d t p   )  n 1   2 cos(d t p   )  0

 sin(d t p   )  1   2 cos(d t p   )  0

cos  sin(d t p   )  sin  cos(d t p   )  0

sin(d t p     )  0  sin 

d t p  

Therefore, the peak time

  
tp  
d n 1   2

The relation between  and  is shown in fig.

2
The first undershoot occurs at t 
d

3
The second overshoot occurs at t  and so on.
d

PEAK OVERSHOOT:
The output of a second order system excited by a unit step input is given by

ent
c(t )  1  sin(d t   )
1  2

The peak overshoot is the difference between the peak value and the reference input.

 ent 
Therefore, M p  c(t p )  1  1   sin(d t p   )   1
 1   2 
n t p
e
 sin(d t p   )
1  2

n
n 1 2
e   
 sin  d  
1   d 
2



1 2
e
   sin  
1  2
 

1 2 
e 1 2
 1   e
2

1  2

Therefore, the peak percent overshoot is