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Analysis of RLC Circuits

Technical Report · June 2017

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11746.04805

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 Analysis of RLC Circuits

Guruprasad
Assistant Professor, MIT, Manipal.

A typical second order circuit consists of two energy storing elements. A series RLC circuit is an
example for second order circuit. Figure 1 shows a series RLC circuit.

Figure 1: Series RLC Circuit

Analyzing RLC circuit involves the investigating circuit behavior to different time varying input
signals.

Response to step input

Assume Vi as step input.
Vi = 1 f or t ≥ 0
= 0 f or t < 0
From KVL law
di(t)
Vi = i(t)R + L + Vc (t)
dt
dVc d2 Vc
= RC + LC 2 + Vc
dt dt
Vi 2
d Vc R dVc Vc
= 2
+ + (1)
LC dt L dt LC
This is second order ordinary homogeneous differential equation. One of the solutions is method
of homogeneous and particular solution.
1. Find the Homogeneous solution.

2. Find the Particular solution

3. Total solution is sum of both.

4. Use initial condition to find constants.

Vc = Vp [P articularSolution] + Vh [HomogenousSolution]
Homogeneous equation is the equation (1) with source set to zero.

d2 Vc R dVc Vc
2
+ + =0
dt L dt LC
Assume a solution Vc = Aest
R Aest
As2 est + Asest + =0
L LC

1
Avoiding trivial solutions est = 0 and A=0
R 1
s2 + s+ =0 (2)
L LC
r
R R 1
s1,2 =− ± ( )2 −
2L 2L LC
Equation (2) is called characteristic equation. If either Vc1 = A1 es1 t or Vc1 = A2 es2 t satisfies the
characteristic equation then sum of two terms also satisfies . Hence Vc = A1 es1 t + A2 es2 t is solution
to homogeneous equation. where A1 and A2 are constants and found from initial condition.
Next step is to find particular solution.

d2 Vp R dVp Vp Vi
2
+ + =
dt L dt LC LC
Let Vp = K be the solution then
K = Vi
Hence Vp = Vi is the particular solution. Total solution is

Vc = A1 es1 t + A2 es2 t + Vi (3)

Lats step is to find the constants from initial condition. At t=0

Vc,0 = A1 es1 t + A2 es2 t + Vi,0 ]t=0 (4)

dVc,0 i0 d
= = [A1 es1 t + A2 es2 t + Vi,0 ]t=0 (5)
dt C dt
From equation (4) and (5), A1 and A2 can be determined.

Roots of Characteristic Equation

The second order system response is dependent on value and type of roots of characteristic equation.
We shall use following notation for simplification.
p
s1,2 = −α ± α2 − ωn2

R 1
α= ωn2 =
2L LC
1. Roots are real and distinct
α2 > ωn2
Roots are sum of two exponentially decaying components. Hence the response is over damped.

2. Roots are real and equal

α2 = ωn2 s1 = s2 = s
Vc = A1 est + A2 est = (A1 + A2 )est = Aest
However a second order system must have two constants so,

Vc = A1 est + A2 test

The system is critically damped.

2
 3. Roots are complex
α2 < ωn2
When roots are complex, they always occur in conjugate pair. i.e if α2 = ωn2 − α2
s1 = −α + jω s2 = −α − jω
So solution is
Vc = A1 e(−α+jω)t + A2 e(−α−jω)t
From Euler’s theorem,
ejθ = cosθ + jsinθ
If Vc to be real, A1 and A2 must also be chosen as complex conjugates namely A2 = A∗1 .
Vc = A1 e(−α+jω)t + A∗1 e(−α−jω)t
= e−αt [A1 cos(ωt) + jA1 sin(ωt)] + e−αt [A∗1 cos(ωt) − jA∗1 sin(ωt)]
= e−αt [(A1 + A∗1 )cos(ωt) + (jA1 − jA∗1 )sin(ωt)]
Vc = e−αt [Acos(ωt) + Bsin(ωt)]
Where A = A1 + A∗1 = 2Re[A1 ] and B = jA1 − jA∗1 = −2Im[A1 ] But sum of sine and cosine
must be another sine with a phase difference,
Vc = Ae−αt sin(ωt + θ)
The response is sum of decaying exponential component and sinusoidal. The resulting wave form
is exponentially decaying sinusoidal.

Illustration
For the circuit shown in Figure 1, Assume Vin =5V, L=1mH, R = 10Ω and C=0.01mF. Determine Vc .
d2 Vc dVc
108 Vi = 2
+ 106 + 108 Vc
dt dt
1. Step 1 : Characteristic equation
s2 + 106 s + 108 = 0
s1,2 = −5000 ± j8660
Roots are complex hence the response is under-damped.
2. Step 2: Solution
Vc = e−αt [Acosωt + Bsinωt] + Vi
R
α= = 5000 ω = 8660 Vi = 5V
2L
3. Step 3: Find Constants
At t=0
Vc,0 = Vi,0 + A
A = −5V
Taking derivative of Vc equation at t=0
dVc,0 i0 d
= = [e−αt [Acosωt + Bsinωt] + Vi ]
dt C dt
i0
= −αA + ωB
C
0 = 25000 + 8660B
B = −2.88

3
The complete solution is

Vc = e−5000t [−5cos(8660t) − 2.88sin(8660t)] + 5

Figure 2 shows the plot of above equation using GNU Octave.

Figure 2: Output plot using Octave

The code for producing above plot is give below

*****************************************************
t=0:0.000001:0.002;
y=exp(-5000*t);
z=(-5*cos(8660*t))-(2.88*sin(8660*t));
p=y.*z+5;
plot (t,p,"k"): xlabel( "time") :ylabel("Vout")
*****************************************************
The same problem can be solved and verified using Ngspice. The SPICE code is given below -
*****************************************************
RLC circuit Analysis
Vi 1 0 5
R1 1 2 10
L1 2 3 1m
C1 3 0 0.01m
.control
op
run
ic v(3)=0
tran 0.1m 10m uic
.endc
.end
****************************************************
Figure 3 shows the plot obtained from Ngspice.

4
 Figure 3: Ngspice Output

Exercise
For the above problem determine the response if i) R = 500Ω ii) R = 0Ω iii) Calculate the value of R
for which the system response will be Critically Damped.

Reference
1. DeCarlo and Lin, Linear Circuit Analysis, Second edition, Oxford publisher, 2005.

2. Ananth Agarwal and Jeffrey H. Lang, Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits,
Elsevier- Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2016.

3. GNU Octave user Manual.

4. Ngspice user Manual.

5. Gnu Plot user Manual.

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