Unit 2

Transient Analysis: Time domain analysis of first and second order

circuits, Frequency Domain analysis: solutions using Laplace
transforms, RLC Resonance, Q-factor and Bandwidth. Coupled
circuits – Dot convention analysis. Graph theory, Two-Port Networks

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 Introduction : Transient Analysis
➢ Any circuit when switched ON will take some time for the current and voltage
values to settle to its final steady state.
➢ When the circuit has inductor (or) capacitor (or) both then the time taken will be of
considerable amount.
 Introduction : Transient Analysis

➢ Energy storage capabilities of inductor and capacitor will not allow

sudden change in current and voltage respectively.
➢ Transients in circuits lasts for few seconds to few minutes.
➢ Analysis is to be done in the circuits during its transient time before it
reaches steady state conditions – Transient Analysis (time base study)

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Real life understanding : Transients

Example :1 Example :2
 Transient Analysis in Circuits
Transient Analysis in Circuits are time based analysis done when combination of elements
like resistor, inductor and capacitors excited by DC (or) AC sources
Types :
Based on Type of Source AC and DC Transients

➢ Natural/source free/decay
Based Source availability
➢ Forced response
Based on combination ➢ RL
of elements ➢ RC
➢ RLC
Analysis:
Parameters under study: Current and voltage
Solution Technique:
Laws applied: Kirchoff’s Laws
➢ Ordinary differential equation method
Equation Type Involved: Integro-Differential equations
➢ Laplace Transforms Method
Output: Time domain equations and graphs
 Transient Analysis
• Transient analysis calculates a circuit's response over a period of time
(defined by the user).
Definition Transient analysis.
• It is the analysis of the circuits during the time it changes from one steady
state condition to another steady state condition.
• Transient analysis will reveal how the currents and voltages are changing
during the transient period

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 Transient Analysis
➢ The capacitor voltage and inductor current cannot change suddenly to achieve a new steady
state value, transient analysis is very important when we want to study how the circuit
parameters, such as voltages and currents, evolve with time.
➢ L and C components have the ability to store energy in magnetic (or) electric fields
➢ When the energy is suddenly released, the response is called the natural response (transient
Response), this response is independent of the source . It dies out gradually to zero as time
becomes infinite. (This response will depend on the type of element and size)
➢ When the external source of energy is applied to the circuit, it is called the forced response.
➢ The complete response is the sum of Natural and Forced response.

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 Objectives : Transient Analysis
➢ To investigate the behavior of currents and voltages when energy is either released
(or) acquired by inductors and capacitors when there is an abrupt change in DC
current (or) voltage source.
➢ To do an analysis of forced response and Natural/source free/decay of RL and RC circuit.

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 Time-domain analysis of First-order RL and RC circuits

➢ Analyzing the response of circuit consisting of R, L, C, voltage source, current source &

switches to sudden application of voltage (or) current is called as Time domain Analysis

& Transient Response.

➢ A circuit that contains only sources, resistor and inductor is called an RL circuit.

➢ A circuit that contains only sources, resistor and capacitor is called an RC circuit.

➢ RL and RC circuits are called first–order circuits because their voltages and currents are

described by first order differential equations.

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 R R

i i
Vs L vs C

An RL circuit An RC circuit
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 DC Transients
• Transient circuits with DC excitation
• RL, RC and RLC circuits
• Forced and Natural (or) source free responses in RL and RC transient circuits

First order circuits: RL and RC Second order circuit: RLC

Initial conditions to be taken care: Capacitor: Initial voltage across the capacitor and its polarity
Inductor: Initial current through the inductor and its direction
 RL Circuit with DC Excitation
When Switch S is closed, the current charges the inductor to VL(t) (Opposite
to the applied voltage (V).
The rate of change of current decreases with time which allows current to
build upto it’s maximum value.
Before t=0, i(t) =0

To find out current i(t) for time t >0.

Applying Kirchhoff’s voltage law to the above circuit
V = vR(t)+ vL(t) , i (t) = 0 for t < 0
Using the standard relationships of Voltage and Current for the Resistors and Inductors
V = Ri + L di/dt for t >0
The Variables are separated, and then integrating each side of the equation.
The variables in the above equation are i and t.
This equation is multiplied by dt and arranged with the variables separated as shown below:
V. dt = Ri. dt + Ldi
i.e Ldi = (V – Ri) dt
i.e Ldi / (V – Ri) = dt
Integrate the above equation : − (L/R ) ln (V− Ri) = t + k ------- (i)
Where k is the integration constant. 12
In order to evaluate k, an initial condition must be invoked. Prior to t = 0, i (t) is zero, and thus i (0−) = 0.

Since the current in an inductor cannot change by a finite amount in zero time without being associated with an infinite voltage,

we have i (0+) = 0. Setting i = 0 at t = 0, in equation (i) Equation (i) is − (L/R ) ln (V− Ri) = t + k
we obtain, − (L/R ) ln (V) = k and − (L/R ) ln (V− Ri) - k = t
Substitute k in equation (i) , we get − L/R [ ln (V− Ri ) − ln V]= t

Rearranging the above equation, we get ln [ (V− Ri) /V] = − (R/L)t

Taking antilogarithm on both sides, (V–Ri)/V= e−(R/L) t

Solving the above equation for i, (V/V –Ri/V)= e−(R/L) t

1 - Ri/V = e−(R/L) t

-Ri/V = -1+ e−(R/L) t

i = V/R ( 1-e−(R/L) t)

i(t) = (V/R)–(V/R)e−(R/L) t for t > 0

Thus, an expression for the response valid for all time t would be
i(t) = V/R [1− e−(R/L)t ]
This is normally written as:
i(t) = V/R [1− e−t./τ ] Substitute L/R= τ , time constant
The voltage across the resistance and the Inductor for t >0 can be written as : we know V= vR(t) + vL(t)

vR(t) = i(t).R = V [1− e−t./τ ] & vL(t) = V −vR (t) = V −V [1− e−t./τ ] = V (e−t./τ) 13
➢ A plot of the current i(t) and the voltages vR(t) & vL(t) is shown in the figure below.

At t = ‘τ’ the voltage across the inductor will be

vL(τ) = V (e−τ /τ) = V/e = 0.36788 V and
The voltage across the Resistor will be vR(τ) = V [1− e−τ./τ ] = 0.63212 V
The plots of current i(t) and the voltage across the Resistor vR(t) are called exponential growth curves
and the voltage across the inductor vL(t)is called exponential decay curve.

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 RC CIRCUIT with external DC excitation
Assume the capacitor is not charged initially i.e. it’s voltage is zero, then after the
switch S is closed at time t=0, the capacitor voltage builds up gradually and reaches
it’s steady state value of V volts after a finite time.
The charging current will be maximum initially (since initially capacitor voltage is zero
and voltage across a capacitor cannot change instantaneously) and then it will
gradually comedown as the capacitor voltage starts building up. The current and the
voltage during such charging periods are called Transient Current and Transient
Voltage.

Applying KVL around the loop in the above circuit, V = vR(t) + vC(t) General Equation i & v
(Capacitor)
Using the standard relationships of voltage and current for an Ideal Capacitor
i = C dv/dt
we get vC(t) = (1/C )∫ 𝒊(𝒕)𝒅𝒕 (or) i(t) = C.[dvC(t)/dt] and using this relation, v = 1/C ∫ i dt
vR(t) can be written as vR(t) = Ri(t) = R. C.[dvC(t)/dt]
Using the above two expressions for vR(t) and vC(t)the above expression for V can be rewritten as :
V = R. C.[dvC(t)/dt] + vC(t) (or)
Finally dvC(t)/dt + (1/RC). vC(t) = V/RC
vC(t) is known as the time constant of the circuit and τ is given by τ = RC and it’s units are seconds. 15
 dvC(t)/dt + (1/RC). vC(t) = V/RC
The above equation is a first order differential equation and can be solved by using separation of variables .

Multiplying the above equation both sides by ‘dt’ and rearranging the terms so as to separate the variables vC(t) and t

we get: dvC(t)+ (1/RC). vC(t) . dt = (V/RC).dt

dvC(t) = [(V/RC)−(1/RC). vC(t)]. dt

dvC(t) / [(V/RC)−(1/RC). vC(t)] = dt

R. C . dvC(t) / [(V−vC(t)] = dt

Now integrating both sides w.r.t their variables

i.e. ‘vC(t)’ on the LHS and ‘t’ on the RHS

we get −RC ln [V − vC(t)] = t+ k where ‘k‘ is the constant of integration.

In order to evaluate k, an initial condition must be invoked. Prior to t = 0, vC(t) is zero, and thus vC(t)(0−) = 0. Since the voltage across a

capacitor cannot change by a finite amount in zero time, we have vC(t)(0+) = 0.

Setting vC(t)= 0 at t = 0, in the above equation we obtain: −RC ln [V] = k

substituting this value of k = −RC ln [V] in the above simplified equation−RC ln [V − vC(t)] = t+ k

we get : −RC ln [V − vC(t)] = t−RC ln [V]

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 i.e. −RC ln [V − vC(t)] + RC ln [V] = t
i.e. −RC [ln {V − vC(t)} − ln (V)]= t
i.e. [ln {V − vC(t)}] − ln [V]} = −t/RC
i.e. ln [{V − vC(t)}/(V)] = −t/RC
Taking anti logarithm
we get [{V − vC(t)}/(V)] = e −t/RC
i.e vC(t) = V(1− e −t/RC ) which is the voltage across the capacitor as a function of time .
The voltage across the Resistor is given by : vR(t) = V−vC(t) = V−V(1 − e −t/RC ) = V.e −t/RC
And the current through the circuit is given by: i(t) = C.[dvC(t)/dt] = (CV/CR )e −t/RC=(V/R )e −t/RC
Or the on the other way: i(t) = vR(t) /R = ( V.e −t/RC ) /R = (V/R )e −t/RC
In terms of the time constant τ the expressions for vC(t) , vR(t)and i(t) are given by :
vC(t) = V(1 − e −t/RC )
vR(t) = V.e −t/RC
i(t) = (V/R )e −t/RC
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The plots of current i(t) and the voltages across the resistor vR(t)and capacitor vC(t)are shown in the figure
below.

Transient current and voltages in RC circuit with DC excitation

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At t = ‘τ’ the voltage across the capacitor will be: vC(τ) = V [1− e−τ/τ ] = 0.63212 V

The voltage across the Resistor will be: vR(τ) = V (e−τ /τ) = V/e = 0.36788 V

and the current through the circuit will be: i(τ) = (V/R) (e−τ /τ) = V/R. e = 0.36788 (V/R)

Thus it can be seen that after one time constant the charging current has decayed to approximately 36.8% of it’s value at t=0 .

At t= 5 τ charging current will be i(5τ) = (V/R) (e−5τ /τ) = V/R. e5 = 0.0067(V/R)

This value is very small compared to the maximum value of (V/R) at t=0 .Thus it can be assumed that the capacitor is fully

charged after 5 time constants.

The following similarities may be noted between the equations for the transients in the LC and RC circuits:

➢ The transient voltage across the Inductor in a LC circuit and the transient current in the RC circuit have the same form

k.(e−t /τ)

➢ The transient current in a LC circuit and the transient voltage across the capacitor in the RC circuit have the same form

k.(1−e−t /τ)

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 RLC CIRCUITS
➢ In the RL and RC circuits, there will be one energy storage element, combined with a
passive network with which it was determined how long it took either the capacitor (or)
the inductor to charge/discharge.
➢ The differential equations which resulted from analysis were always first-order.
➢ In this RLC circuit, the complexity is more due to availability of both an inductor and a
capacitor. The result is a second-order differential equation for the voltage (or) current.
➢ There are two types of RLC circuits:
Series and Parallel RLC circuits
➢ Such circuits occur routinely in a wide variety of applications and are very important to
study both these circuits.
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 Transient response of a series RLC circuit
➢ Applying KVL to the series RLC circuit shown in the figure at t = 0 gives the following
basic relation : V = vR(t) + vC(t ) + vL(t)
➢ Representing the above voltages in terms of the current i in the circuit we get the
following integro differential equation: Ri + 1/C∫ 𝒊𝒅𝒕 + L (di/dt)= V
To convert it into a differential equation, it is differentiated on both sides with
respect to time , we get L (d2 i/dt2 ) + R(di/dt) + (1/C) i = 0
(d2 i/dt2 )+ R/L(di/dt)+ (1/LC) i = 0
This can be written in the form [s2 + (R/L)s + (1/LC)].i = 0
where ‘s’ is an operator equivalent to (d/dt)
and the corresponding characteristic equation is then given by
[s2 + (R/L)s + (1/LC)] = 0
This is in the standard quadratic equation form and the roots s1and s2are given by
s1,s2 = − R/2L ± √[(R/2L)2− (1/LC)] = −α ±√(α 2– ω0 2 )
Where α is known as the exponential damping coefficient and ω0 is known as the Resonant frequency and are given by :
α = R/2L and ω0= 1/ √LC
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 Transient response of a series RLC circuit
• Here, we note three basic scenarios with the equations for s1 and s2 depending on α and ω0 (dictated by the

values of R, L, and C).

➢ Case A: α > ω0 , i.e when (R/2L)2>1/LC, s1 and s2 will both be negative real numbers, leading to refer as an over

damped response given by : i (t) = A1es1t+ A2es2t

Since s1 and s2 are both be negative real numbers this is the (algebraic) sum of two decreasing exponential terms.

Since s2 is a larger negative number it decays faster and then the response is dictated by the first term A1e s1t

➢ Case B : α = ω0 , i.e when (R/2L)2=1/LC , s1 and s2 are equal which leads to what is called a critically damped

response given by: i (t) = e −αt (A1t + A2)

➢ Case C : α < ω0, i.e when (R/2L)2 < 1/LC both s1 and s2 will have nonzero imaginary components, leading to under

damped response given by : i (t) = e −αt (A1 cosωd t + A2 sinωd t)

where ωd is called natural resonant frequency and is given by: ωd = √ω02– α2

Here the constants A1 and A2 have to be calculated out based on the initial conditions case by case.
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 Transient response of a Parallel RLC circuit
➢ For simplifying the process of finding the response, it is assumed
that the initial current in the inductor and the voltage across the
capacitor are zero.
➢ Then applying the Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL) (i = iL + iC ) to the
common node, we get the following integro differential equation

Where v = vC(t) = vL(t) is the variable whose value is to be obtained. When the above equation is differentiated
both sides with respect to time, we get the standard Linear second-order homogeneous differential equation.
C.(d2 v/dt2 )+ (1/R).(dv/dt)+ (1/L).v = 0
÷C (d2 v/dt2 )+ (1/RC).(dv/dt)+ (1/LC).v = 0
This can be written in the form: [s2 + (1/RC)s + (1/LC)].v(t) = 0
where ‘s’ is an operator equivalent to (d/dt) and the corresponding characteristic equation.
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 Transient response of a Parallel RLC circuit
[s2 + (1/RC)s + (1/LC)] = 0
[s2 + (1/RC)s + (1/LC)] = 0
This equation is usually called the auxiliary equation or the characteristic equation.
This is a quadratic equation and the roots s1 and s2are given as :
s1= − 1/2RC+√[(1/2RC)2− 1/LC]
s2= − 1/2RC−√[ (1/2RC)2− 1/LC ] and
we have the general form of the response as :
v(t) = A1e s1t+ A2e s2t
where s1 and s2 are given by the above equations and A1 and A2 are two arbitrary constants
which are to be selected to satisfy the initial conditions.

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