Basic Laws of Electric Circuits

Mesh Analysis

Lesson 7
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Basic Concepts:

In formulating mesh analysis we assign a mesh

current to each mesh.

Mesh currents are sort of fictitious in that a particular

mesh current does not define the current in each branch
of the mesh to which it is assigned.

I1 I2 I3
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Basic Concepts:
R1 R2
V1 _ + _
+ V2
+
+ +
VA VL1 Rx VB
_ I1 _
I2 _

Figure 7.2: A circuit for illustrating mesh analysis.

Around mesh 1:
V1 VL1 V A
where V1 I1 R1 ; VL1 I1 I 2 RX
so, ( R1 RX ) I1 RX I 2 V A Eq 7.1
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Basic Concepts:
R1 R2
V1 _ + _
+ V2
+
+ +
VA VL1 Rx VB
_ I1 _
I2 _

Around mesh 2 we have

V L1 V2 V B Eq 7.2
with; V L1 ( I 2 I 1 ) R X ; V2 I 2 R2
Eq 7.3

Substituting Eq 7.3 in 7.2 gives,

R X I1 ( R X R2 ) I 2 V B
or R X I 1 ( R X R2 ) I 2 V B Eq 7.4
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Basic Concepts:

We are left with 2 equations: From (7.1) and (7.4)

we have,

( R1 RX ) I1 RX I 2 VA Eq 7.5

RX I1 ( RX R2 ) I 2 VB Eq 7.6

We can easily solve these equations for I1 and I2.

 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Basic Concepts:
The previous equations can be written in matrix form as:

( R1 RX ) R X I1 V A
R Eq (7.7)
X ( RX R2 I 2 VB
or
1
I1 ( R1 RX ) RX V A
I R
( RX R2 VB
Eq (7.8)
2 X
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Example 7.1.
Write the mesh equations and solve for the currents I1, and I2.
4 2

7
6
10V + I1 I2
_
2V +_ _
20V
+

Figure 7.2: Circuit for Example 7.1.

Eq (7.9)
Mesh 1 4I1 + 6(I1 I2) = 10 - 2

Eq (7.10)
Mesh 2 6(I2 I1) + 2I2 + 7I2 = 2 + 20
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Example 7.1, continued.
Simplifying Eq (7.9) and (7.10) gives,
10I1 6I2 = 8 Eq (7.11)

-6I1 + 15I2 = 22 Eq (7.12)

% A MATLAB Solution

R = [10 -6;-6 15];

V = [8;22]; I1 = 2.2105

I = inv(R)*V
I2 = 2.3509
I=

2.2105
2.3509
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Example 7.2
Solve for the mesh currents in the circuit below.
12V
9
_
_+

+
I3 8V
10 11
+ _

6 4
3
I1 _ I2
20V + 10V
__ +

Figure 7.3: Circuit for Example 7.2.

The plan: Write KVL, clockwise, for each mesh. Look for a
pattern in the final equations.
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Example 7.2
12V
9
_
_+

+
I3 8V
10 11
+ _

6 4
3
I1 _ I2
20V + 10V
__ +

Mesh 1: 6I1 + 10(I1 I3) + 4(I1 I2) = 20 + 10 Eq (7.13)

Mesh 2: 4(I2 I1) + 11(I2 I3) + 3I2 = - 10 - 8 Eq (7.14)
Mesh 3: 9I3 + 11(I3 I2) + 10(I3 I1) = 12 + 8 Eq (7.15)
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Example 7.2
Clearing Equations (7.13), (7.14) and (7.15) gives,

Standard Equation form In matrix form:

20I1 4I2 10I3 = 30 20 4 10 I1 30
4 18 11 I 18
-4I1 + 18I2 11I3 = -18 2
10 11 30 I 3 20
-10I1 11I2 + 30I3 = 20

WE NOW MAKE AN IMPORTANT

OBSERVATION!!
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Standard form for mesh equations
Consider the following:

R11 R12 R13 I1 emfs(1)

R R22 R23 I 2 emfs( 2)
21
R31 R32 R33 I 3 emfs( 3)

R11 = of resistance around mesh 1, common to mesh 1 current I1.

R22 = of resistance around mesh 2, common to mesh 2 current I2.

R33 = of resistance around mesh 3, common to mesh 3 current I3.

 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Standard form for mesh equations

R12 = R21 = - resistance common between mesh 1 and 2

when I1 and I2 are opposite through R1,R2.
R13 = R31 = - resistance common between mesh 1 and 3
when I1 and I3 are opposite through R1,R3.
R23 = R32 = - resistance common between mesh 2 and 3
when I2 and I3 are opposite through R2,R3.

emfs(1) = sum of emf around mesh 1 in the direction of I1.

emfs(2) = sum of emf around mesh 2 in the direction of I2.

emfs(3) = sum of emf around mesh 3 in the direction of I3.
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: Example 7.3 - Direct method.
Use the direct method to write the mesh equations for the following.

20 30 12

_ 8
10
20V +_ I1 I2 + 15V I3
+ _
_ 10V 10 + 30V

Figure 7.4: Circuit diagram for Example 7.3.

30 10 0 I1 10
10 50 10 I 25 Eq (7.13)
2
0 10 30 I 3 15
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: With current sources in the circuit
Example 7.4: Consider the following:
20V
2
_ +

10 I3
20

10V +_ I1 5 I2 4A

15

Figure 7.5: Circuit diagram for Example 7.4.

Use the direct method to write the mesh equations.

 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: With current sources in the circuit
This case is explained by using an example.
Example 7.4: Find the three mesh currents in the circuit below.

20V
2
_ +

10 I3
20

10V +_ I1 5 I2 4A

15

Figure 7.5: Circuit for Example 7.4.

When a current source is present, it will be directly related to
one or more of the mesh current. In this case I2 = -4A.
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: With current sources in the circuit
Example 7.4: Continued. An easy way to handle this case is to
remove the current source as shown below. Next, write the mesh
equations for the remaining meshes.
20V
2
_ +

10 I3
20

10V +_ I1 5 I2

15

Note that I 2 is retained for writing the equations through the

5 and 20 resistors.
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: With current sources in the circuit
Example 7.4: Continued.
20V
2
_ +

10 I3 Equation for mesh 1:

20

10I1 + (I1-I2)5 = 10
10V +_ I1 5 I2
or
15
15I1 5I2 = 10

Equations for mesh 2: Constraint Equation

2I3 + (I3-I2)20 = 20 I2 = - 4A
or

- 20I2 + 22I3 = 20
 Basic Circuits
Mesh Analysis: With current sources in the circuit
Example 7.4: Continued. Express the previous equations in
Matrix form:

15 5 0 I1 10
0 20 22 I 20
2
0 1 0 I 3 4

I1 = -0.667 A

I2 = - 4 A

I3 = - 2.73 A
 circuits

End of Lesson 7
Mesh Analysis