Frequency response: Resonance, Bandwidth, Q factor

Resonance.

Let’s continue the exploration of the frequency response of RLC circuits by investigating
the series RLC circuit shown on Figure 1.

I R C

+
Vs R VR
-

Figure 1

The magnitude of the transfer function when the output is taken across the resistor is

VR ω RC
H (ω ) ≡ = (1.1)
(1 − ω LC ) + (ω RC )
Vs 2 2 2

At the frequency for which the term 1 − ω 2 LC = 0 the magnitude becomes

H (ω ) = 1 (1.2)

The dependence of H (ω ) on frequency is shown on Figure 2 for which L=47mH and

C=47µF and for various values of R.

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 Figure 2.

1
The frequency ω0 = is called the resonance frequency of the RLC network.
LC

The impedance seen by the source Vs is

1
Z = R + jω L +
jωC
(1.3)
⎛ 1 ⎞
= R + j ⎜ωL −
⎝ ωC ⎟⎠
1
Which at ω = ω0 = becomes equal to R .
LC

• Therefore at the resonant frequency the impedance seen by the source is

purely resistive.
• This implies that at resonance the inductor/capacitor combination acts as a
short circuit.
• The current flowing in the system is in phase with the source voltage.

The power dissipated in the RLC circuit is equal to the power dissipated by the resistor.
Since the voltage across a resistor (VR cos(ωt ) ) and the current through it ( I R cos(ωt ) ) are
in phase, the power is

p (t ) = VR cos(ωt ) I R cos(ωt )
(1.4)
= VR I R cos 2 (ωt )

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And the average power becomes

1
P (ω ) = VR I R
2 (1.5)
1
= I R2 R
2

Notice that this power is a function of frequency since the amplitudes VR and I R are
frequency dependent quantities.

The maximum power is dissipated at the resonance frequency

1 VS2
Pmax = P(ω =ω0 ) = (1.6)
2 R

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Bandwidth.

At a certain frequency the power dissipated by the resistor is half of the maximum power
1
which as mentioned occurs at ω0 = . The half power occurs at the frequencies for
LC
1
which the amplitude of the voltage across the resistor becomes equal to of the
2
maximum.
2
1 Vmax
P1/ 2 = (1.7)
4 R

Figure 3 shows in graphical form the various frequencies of interest.

1/ 2

Figure 3

Therefore, the ½ power occurs at the frequencies for which

1 ω RC
= (1.8)
2
(1 − ω LC ) + (ω RC )
2 2 2

Equation (1.8) has two roots

2
R ⎛ R ⎞ 1
ω1 = − + ⎜ ⎟ + 2 (1.9)
2L ⎝ 2 L ⎠ ω0

2
R ⎛ R ⎞ 1
ω2 = + ⎜ ⎟ + 2 (1.10)
2L ⎝ 2 L ⎠ ω0

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The bandwidth is the difference between the half power frequencies

Bandwidth = B = ω2 − ω1 (1.11)

By multiplying Equation (1.9) with Equation (1.10) we can show that ω0 is the geometric
mean of ω1 and ω2 .

ω0 = ω1ω2 (1.12)

As we see from the plot on Figure 2 the bandwidth increases with increasing R.
Equivalently the sharpness of the resonance increases with decreasing R.

For a fixed L and C, a decrease in R corresponds to a narrower resonance and thus a

higher selectivity regarding the frequency range that can be passed by the circuit.

As we increase R, the frequency range over which the dissipative characteristics

dominate the behavior of the circuit increases. In order to quantify this behavior we
define a parameter called the Quality Factor Q which is related to the sharpness of the
peak and it is given by

maximum energy stored E

Q = 2π = 2π S (1.13)
total energy lost per cycle at resonance ED

which represents the ratio of the energy stored to the energy dissipated in a circuit.

The energy stored in the circuit is

1 2 1
ES = LI + CVc 2 (1.14)
2 2

dVc
For Vc = A sin(ω t ) the current flowing in the circuit is I = C = ωCA cos(ωt ) . The
dt
total energy stored in the reactive elements is

1 1
ES = Lω 2C 2 A2 cos 2 (ωt ) + CA2 sin 2 (ωt ) (1.15)
2 2

1
At the resonance frequency where ω = ω0 = the energy stored in the circuit
LC
becomes

1
ES = CA2 (1.16)
2

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The energy dissipated per period is equal to the average resistive power dissipated times
the oscillation period.

2π ⎛ ω 2C 2 A2 ⎞ 2π ⎛ 1 RC 2 ⎞
ED = R I 2 = R⎜ 0 ⎟ = 2π ⎜ A ⎟ (1.17)
ω0 ⎝ 2 ⎠ ω0 ⎝ 2 ω0 L ⎠

And so the ratio Q becomes

ω0 L 1
Q= = (1.18)
R ω0 RC

• The quality factor increases with decreasing R

• The bandwidth decreases with decreasing R

By combining Equations (1.9), (1.10), (1.11) and (1.18) we obtain the relationship
between the bandwidth and the Q factor.

L ω0
B= = (1.19)
R Q
Therefore:

A band pass filter becomes more selective (small B) as Q increases.

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Similarly we may calculate the resonance characteristics of the parallel RLC circuit.

IR (t)
I s (t) R L C

Figure 4

Here the impedance seen by the current source is

jω L
Z // = (1.20)
jω L
(1 − ω LC ) +
2

At the resonance frequency 1 − ω 2 LC = 0 and the impedance seen by the source is purely
resistive. The parallel combination of the capacitor and the inductor act as an open
circuit. Therefore at the resonance the total current flows through the resistor.

If we look at the current flowing through the resistor as a function of frequency we obtain
according to the current divider rule

1
ZR
IR = IS
1 1 1
+ + (1.21)
Z R ZC Z L
jω L
= IS
( R − ω LCR ) + jω L
2

And the transfer function becomes

IR ωL
H (ω ) = = (1.22)
( R − ω LCR ) + (ω L )
IS 2 2 2

Again for L=47mH and C=47µF and for various values of R the transfer function is
plotted on Figure 5.

1
For the parallel circuit the half power frequencies are found by letting H (ω ) =
2

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 1 ωL
= (1.23)
2
( R − ω LCR ) + (ω L )
2 2 2

Solving Equation (1.23) for ω we obtain the two ½ power frequencies.

2
1 ⎛ 1 ⎞ 1
ω1 = − + ⎜ ⎟ + 2 (1.24)
2 RC ⎝ 2 RC ⎠ ω0
2
1 ⎛ 1 ⎞ 1
ω2 = + ⎜ ⎟ + 2 (1.25)
2 RC ⎝ 2 RC ⎠ ω0

Figure 5

And the bandwidth for the parallel RLC circuit is

1
BP = ω2 − ω1 = (1.26)
RC
The Q factor is

ω0 R
Q= = ω0 RC = (1.27)
BP ω0 L

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 Summary of the properties of RLC resonant circuits.

Series Parallel
I R C

IR (t)

Circuit Vs R
+
VR
I s (t) R L C

VR ω RC IR ωL
H (ω ) ≡ = H (ω ) = =
Transfer function (1 − ω LC ) + (ω RC ) ( R − ω LCR ) + (ω L )
Vs 2 2 2
2 IS 2 2

1 1
Resonant frequency ω0 = ω0 =
LC LC

2
R ⎛ R ⎞ 1 2
ω1 = − + ⎜ ⎟ + 2 1 ⎛ 1 ⎞ 1
2L ⎝ 2 L ⎠ ω0 ω1 = − + ⎜ ⎟ + 2
2 RC ⎝ 2 RC ⎠ ω0
½ power frequencies 2
2 1 ⎛ 1 ⎞ 1
R ⎛ R ⎞ 1 ω2 = + ⎜ ⎟ + 2
ω2 = + ⎜ ⎟ + 2 2 RC ⎝ 2 RC ⎠ ω0
2L ⎝ 2 L ⎠ ω0

R 1
Bandwidth BS = ω2 − ω1 = BP = ω2 − ω1 =
L RC

ω0 ω0 L 1 ω0 R
Q factor Q= = = Q= = ω0 RC =
BS R ω0 RC BP ω0 L

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Example:

A very useful circuit for rejecting noise at a certain frequency such as the interference
due to 60 Hz line power is the band reject filter sown below.

C
+
Vs
VR
-

Figure 6

The impedance seen by the source is

jω L
Z = R+ (1.28)
1 − ω 2 LC

1
When ω = ω0 = the impedance becomes infinite. The LC combination resembles
LC
an open circuit.

If we take the output across the resistor the magnitude of the transfer function is

VR R(1 − ω 2 LC )
= H (ω ) = (1.29)
( R − Rω LC ) + (ω L )
Vs 2 2 2

Consideration of the frequency limits gives

ω = 0, H (ω ) = 1
ω = ω0, H (ω ) = 0 (1.30)
ω → ∞, H (ω ) → 1
which is a band-stop “notch” filter.

If we are interested in suppressing a 60 Hz noise signal then

1
2π 60 = (1.31)
LC

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For L=47mH, the corresponding value of the capacitor is C=150µF.

The plot of the transfer function with the above values for L and C is shown on Figure 7
for various values of R.

Figure 7

Since the capacitor and the inductor are in parallel the bandwidth for this circuit is
1
B= (1.32)
RC

If we require a bandwidth of 5 Hz, the resistor R=212Ω. In this case the pot of the
transfer function is shown on Figure 8.

Figure 8

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