BASIC BOND GRAPH ELEMENTS

In Chapter 2 real devices were considered as subsystems from the point of view of power
exchanges and external port variables. In this chapter a basic set of multiport elements is defined
that can be used to model subsystems in detail. These elements function as components of
subsystem and system models and are, in many cases, idealized mathematical models of real
components, such as resistors, capacitors, masses, springs, and pipes. In other cases, however,
the basic elements are used to model physical effects in a device and cannot be put into a one-
to-one correspondence with physical components of the device. For example, one might create
a model of an electrical or fluid transmission line using a finite collection of resistance,
capacitance, and inertia elements, even though in the real device the effects being modeled are
distributed along the transmission line and not concentrated into lumps as in the model.

Using bond graphs and the classification of power and energy variables presented in the
previous chapter, it turns out that only a few basic types of multiport elements are required in
order to represent models in a wide variety of energy domains. The bond graph notation often
allows one to visualize aspects of the system more easily than would be possible with just the
state equations or with some other graphical notation designed for a single energy domain or
for signal flow rather than power flow. The search for a bond graph model of a complex system
frequently increases one’s understanding of the physical system.

3.1 BASIC 1-PORT ELEMENTS

A 1-port element is addressed through a single power port, and at the port a single pair of effort
and flow variables exists. In principle, a 1-port can be a very complex subsystem. For example,
an ordinary electrical wall outlet can sometimes be represented as 1-port element in a system
analysis. The port actually connects to a vast network of power generation and distribution
equipment, yet from the point of view of a system model, a relatively simple characterization of
what is behind the wall outlet as a 1-port may suffice.

Here we first deal with the most primitive 1-ports. We consider, in order, 1-port elements that
dissipate power, store energy, and supply power.
The 1-port resistor is an element in which the effort and flow variables at the single port are
related by a static function. Figure 3.1 shows the bond graph symbol for the resistor, a typical
graph of the constitutive relation between e and f, and sketches of resistors in several energy
domains. The electrical resistor is an R-element if it can be characterized by a volt–current
constitutive relationship such as

e = Ri

Since e is an effort variable and i is a flow variable, this constitutive relationship exactly fits our
definition of a linear 1-port resistor. The mechanical dashpot is a 1-port resistor for the same
reason as in the electrical resistor. If an ideal dashpot is characterized by a force–velocity
relationship such as

F = bV,

where b is the dashpot constant, then it is represented as a 1-port R element. Since F is an effort
and is V a flow, the constitutive relationship also fits our definition of a 1-port resistor.

The hydraulic example is a 1-port resistor because it is characterized by a pressure–volume flow

rate relationship and pressure and volume flow rate are bond graph effort and flow variables.
In most hydraulic cases the effort–flow relationship is more complicated than the first two
examples. This is dealt with in great detail in Chapters 4 and 12; here we just specify that for
turbulent flow through a restriction, the pressure–flow relationship is

where A is the flow area. These relationships are effort–flow relationships and again fit our
definition of a one-port resistor.

Usually, resistors dissipate energy; that is, power flows into the resistor but never comes out of
it. From the point of view of a system connected to a resistor, over time, energy seems to
disappear into a resistor. This must be true for simple electrical resistors, mechanical dampers
or dashpots, porous plugs in fluid lines, and other analogous elements. Noting from Figure 3.1a
that power flows into the port when the product of e and f is positive according to the sign
convention shown, we may deduce that power is always dissipated if the defining constitutive
relation between e and f lies only in the first and third quadrants of the e –f plane as shown in
Figure 3.1b, for then the product ef is positive when both e and f are positive or when both are
negative. Because the resistance function cannot lie in the second or fourth quadrant, the law
must pass through the origin. When the relation between e and f for a 1-port resistor plots as a
curved line as in Figure 3.1b, then the resistor is a nonlinear element. If the relation is a straight
line, then it is a linear element. In the special case of a linear element, a coefficient, the
resistance, or its inverse, the conductance, may be defined. These parameters are actually just
the slopes of the straight line laws when plotted as e versus f or f versus e.

When a resistive element is assumed to be linear, it is conventional to indicate this on the bond
graph by appending a colon (:) next to the −R and noting the physical symbol for the resistance
parameter. This is done in Figure 3.1 for the electrical resistance and the mechanical dashpot.
For the hydraulic resistor, no parameter is indicated since this is a nonlinear element and no
single resistance parameter can be identified.

Table 3.1 shows the resistor constitutive laws in general form and in specific form for several
energy domains. Note that for power-dissipating linear resistors, with the sign convention
shown in Figure 3.1 and Table 3.1, the general resistance and conductance parameters, R and
G, respectively, are positive, as are the corresponding parameters in the specific energy
domains.

For simplicity, we establish the following arbitrary but useful rule: For passive (power
dissipating) resistors, establish the power sign convention by means of a half-arrow pointing
toward the resistor. Then linear resistance parameters will be positive, and nonlinear relations
will fall in the first and third quadrants of the e –f plane.

Since linear models are of great usefulness in certain fields (vibrations and electric circuits, for
example), the linear versions of resistance relations in various energy domains are shown in
Table 3.1 with the same notation employed in Chapter 2. The units of the linear resistance
parameter are simply the units of effort divided by the units of flow. The units displayed in Table
3.1 are worth studying, since many of them may not be familiar. The only resistance unit
dignified with its own name is the electrical ohm.

Next consider a 1-port device in which a static constitutive relation exists between an effort and
a displacement. Such a device stores and gives up energy without loss. In bond graph
terminology, an element that relates e to q is called a 1-port capacitor or compliance. In physical
terms, a capacitor is an idealization of such devices as springs, torsion bars, electrical capacitors,
gravity tanks, and hydraulic accumulators. The bond graph symbol, the defining constitutive
relation, and some physical examples are shown in Figure 3.2.

As with the 1-port resistor, there are idealized linear compliance elements as well as nonlinear
ones. In Figure 3.2b, a general nonlinear constitutive e, q relationship is shown. If the element
can be assumed linear, then the e versus q curve will be a straight line and a compliance
parameter can be defined such that e = q/C. Note that it is customary to define the linear
compliance relationship using the inverse of the slope of the e versus q curve. The reason for
this will become clear when more physical elements are presented in the next chapter. For the
linear case, it is customary to indicate the compliance parameter on the bond graph as shown
in Figure 3.2.

The electrical capacitor, of capacitance C farads, is a compliance element because its idealized
behavior is

where q =∫ 𝑖 dt is the charge on the capacitor. This fits perfectly with our definition of a linear
1-port capacitor. The spring of stiffness, k, is a 1-port capacitor because it is characterized by