Analogies

• Analogies Give Engineers Insight!

– Insight based on fundamentals is the key to
innovative multidisciplinary problem solving.
– A person trying to explain a difficult concept will often say
“Well, the analogy is …” The use of analogies in everyday
life aids in understanding and makes everyone better
communicators. Mechatronic systems depend on the
interactions among mechanical, electrical, magnetic, fluid,
thermal, and chemical elements, and most likely
combinations of these. They are truly multidisciplinary and
the designers of mechatronic systems are from diverse
backgrounds. Knowledge of physical system analogies can
give design teams a significant competitive advantage.

Analogies K. Craig 1
 Electrical – Mechanical Analogies
• A signal, element, or system which exhibits mathematical
behavior identical to that of another, but physically
different, signal, element, or system is called an
analogous quantity or analog.
• Let’s explore the common electrical-mechanical analogy.
– These systems are modeled using combinations of pure (only
have the characteristic for which they are named) and ideal
(linear in behavior) elements: resistor (R), capacitor (C), and
inductor (L) for electrical systems and damper (B), spring (K), and
mass (M) for mechanical systems. The variables of interest are
voltage (e) and current (i) for electrical systems and force (f) and
velocity (v) for mechanical systems.

Analogies K. Craig 2
 • Force causes velocity, just as voltage causes current.
• A damper dissipates mechanical energy into heat, just as
a resistor dissipates electrical energy into heat.
• Springs and masses store energy in two different ways
(potential energy and kinetic energy), just as capacitors
and inductors store energy in two different ways (electric
field and magnetic field).
Capacitor
Spring 1 2 1 (Kx) 2 1 f 2 1 2 1 q2
Potential Energy = Kx = ⇔= Ce Electric Field
2 2 K 2K 2 2C Energy
Mass 1 1 2 Inductor
Kinetic Energy Mv 2 ⇔ Li Magnetic Field
2 2 Energy

• The product (f)(v) represents instantaneous mechanical

power; (e)(i) represents instantaneous electrical power.
Analogies K. Craig 3
Analogies K. Craig 4
Analogies K. Craig 5
 force f ⇔ voltage e
velocity v ⇔ current i Electrical – Mechanical
Analogies
damper B ⇔ resistor R
spring K ⇔ capacitor 1/C
mass M ⇔ inductor L

Resistor e =
Ri ⇔ Damper f Bv
di dv
Inductor e L= ⇔ Mass f M
dt dt
1
Capacitor e
C
=∫ i dt ⇔ Spring f K ∫ vdt

Analogies K. Craig 6
 RC Electrical System Spring-Damper Mechanical System
i

ein eout K
R fo
C i B
fi − f B − f K =
0
+v
f i − Bv − Kx =
0
ein − e R − eC =
0 f i − Bv − f o =
0 fi

ein − iR − eout =
0  f 
 de  fi − B  o  − fo =
0
ein −  C out  R − eout =
0 K
 dt   
B 
de
RC out + eout = ein fo + fo = fi
dt K
fo 1 B
eout
=
1 = τ=
τ =RC fi B K
ein RCD + 1 D +1
K K. Craig 7
Analogies
 L LR Electrical System Mass-Damper Mechanical System

i
ein i R eout B
fo M

ein − e L − e R =
0 fi − f B − f M =
0 +v

di f i − Bv − M v =
ein − L − eout = 0 0 fi
dt
 f 
d  eout  fi − fo − M  o  =
ein − L   − eout =0 0
dt  R  B
 
L deout M 
+ eout = ein fo + fo = fi
R dt B
eout 1 L M
= τ= fo 1 τ=
ein L D + 1 R = B
fi M D + 1
R B
Analogies K. Craig 8
 L LRC Electrical System
R
K
B
fo M
ein i
C eout
Mass-Spring-Damper
Mechanical System +v

ein − e L − e R − eC =
0 fi − f K − f B − f M =
0 fi

di
ein − L − Ri − eout = 0 f i − Kx − Bv − M v =
0
dt
d  de   f   f 
 de 
ein − L  C out  − R  C out  − eout =
0 fi − fo − B  o  − M  o  = 0
dt  dt   dt   
K  
K
   
d 2 eout de
LC 2 + RCdt out + eout = ein M  B 
fo + fo + fo = fi
dt dt K K
eout 1 KS
= = fo
=
1 KS
ein LCD 2 + RCD + 1 1 D 2 + 2ζ D + 1 =
f i M D 2 + B D + 1 1 D 2 + 2ζ D + 1
ωn2 ωn K K ω2n ωn
1 R C
=
ωn = ζ =
KS 1 K B 1
LC 2 L =
ωn =ζ =
KS 1
M 2 KM
Analogies K. Craig 9
• We can use this analogy to explain the flow of current and the
changes in voltages in a LC (inductor-capacitor) electrical circuit
– difficult to envision for most mechanical engineers and even
for some electrical engineers – by comparing it to a spring-mass
mechanical system.
– The diagrams on the next two slides are color-coded: green, blue,
purple, and orange diagrams for each system correspond to each
other, as do the vertical lines on the graph indicating capacitor
voltage and inductor current at the four specific instances. By
comparing the motion of the mass – its changing potential energy
corresponding to energy stored in the electric field of the capacitor
and its changing kinetic energy corresponding to energy stored in
the magnetic field of the inductor – one can better understand how
electrical capacitors and inductors function.
• For enhanced multidisciplinary engineering system design and
better communication and insight among the design team
members, the use of analogies is a powerful addition to an
engineer’s toolbox.
Analogies K. Craig 10
Inductor-Capacitor (LC) ↔ Mass-Spring (MK) Oscillations
i=0 i=0
K K
L C L C
M
eL eC eL eC
v=0
M x = -max
i i
v=0
L C L C x = +max

eL eC eL eC

imax imax
K K
L C L C
eC = 0 eC = 0
eL = 0 eL = 0 M
M
i i v = max v = max
x=0 x=0
L C L C

eL eC e eC
L

Analogies K. Craig 11
 i=0 i=0

L C L C
eL eC eL eC

i i

L C L C

eL eC eL eC

imax imax

L C L C
eC = 0 eC = 0
eL = 0 eL = 0

i i

L C L C

eL eC e eC
L

Analogies K. Craig 12
 Large Reservoir Tank
Constant Height H (Area A)

Flow
H Resistance h
supply pressure
R
pS
q = volume flow rate

Analogies pS = constant = ρgH (bottom of reservoir) p tank = ρgh

ρ =fluid density A
g = acceleration due to gravity C=
ρg
K
dh
B fo
RC + h =H
dt
B df o
+v
+ fo =
fi
K dt
deout
fi
τ + eout =
Kein
dt
Analogies K. Craig 13