Electric Circuits I

Step Response of a Parallel RLC

Circuit

Dr. Firas Obeidat

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 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit
Applying KVL around the loop for t>0

But

Substituting for i

The complete solution to the above equation

consists of the transient response vt and the steady-
state response vss that is,

The transient response is the component of the total response that dies out with
time. The form of the transient response is the same as the form of the solution
obtained in the source-free series RLC circuit. The steady-state response is the
final value of v(t). the final value of the capacitor voltage is the same as the
source voltage . Hence,
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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit
Thus, the complete solutions for the
overdamped, underdamped, and critically
damped cases are:

The values of the constants A1 and A2 are obtained from the initial conditions v(0)
and dv(0)/dt. Keep in mind that v and i are, respectively, the voltage across the
capacitor and the current through the inductor. Therefore, the above equation
only applies for finding v. But once the capacitor voltage vC=v is known, we can
determine i=Cdv/dt which is the same current through the capacitor, inductor, and
resistor. Hence, the voltage across the resistor is vR=iR while the inductor voltage
is vL=Ldi/dt.
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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit
Example: For the circuit in shown
figure, find v(t) and i(t) for t>0. Consider
these cases: R=5Ω, R=4Ω and R=1Ω.

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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit
Where vss is the steady-state response. It is the final
value of the capacitor voltage. Thus,

The derivative of v is

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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit

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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit

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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit

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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit

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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit

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Dr. Firas Obeidat – Philadelphia University
 Step Response of a Series RLC Circuit
The responses for the three cases. From this figure, we observe that the
critically damped response approaches the step input of 24 V the fastest.

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