No.

CHAPTER 4: TIME
RESPONSE
Chapter 4 : TIME RESPONSE
 No. 2

Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
1. Find the time response from the transfer
function
2. Use poles and zeros to determine the response
of a control system
3. Describe quantitatively the transient response
of first-order and second order systems
 No. 3

Topics
Introduction
Poles, Zeros and System Response
• Poles of a transfer function
• Zeros of a Transfer function
• Poles and Zeros of a First-Order system
First-Order Systems
• Time constant
• Rise time
• Settling time
 No. 4

Topics
Second-Order Systems
• Overdamped Response
• Underdamped Response
• Undamped Response
• Critically Damped Response
General Second Order Systems
• Natural Frequency
• Damping Ratio
Underdamped Second-order Systems
• Peak Time
• Overshoot
• Settling Time
• Rise Time
Response Characteristics And No. 5

System Configurations
 No. 6

Introduction
In Chapter 2, we learned how transfer functions can
represent linear, time-invariant systems.
In chapter 3 systems were represented directly in time
domain via the state and output equations.
After domain mathematical representation of
subsystem, subsystem is analyzed for transient and
steady state response to see if these characteristics yield
desired behavior.
Chapter 4 is devoted to the analysis of system transient
response.
 No. 7

Poles, Zeros and

System Response
- Poles of a Transfer Function
- Zeros of a Transfer Function
- Poles and Zeros of a First-order
System
 No. 8

Poles of a Transfer Function

1. Value of Laplace transform variable, s that
cause the transfer function to be come infinite;
or
2. Any roots of the denominator of transfer
function that are common to roots of numerator.
 No. 9

Zeros of a Transfer Function

1. Value of Laplace Transform variable, s that cause

transfer function to become zero; or
2. Any roots of numerator of the transfer function
that common to roots of denominator.
Poles and Zeros of a First-Order No. 10

System

Example:
Given a transfer function as shown in Figure 4.1 (a).

Figure 4.1 (a)

 No. 11

Poles and Zeros of a First-Order System

Figure 4.1
 No. 12

Properties Of Poles And Zeros

Given a transfer function as shown in Figure 4.1 (a).

Figure 4.1
( s  2)
C (s) 
s ( s  5)
( s  2) A B
C (s)   
s ( s  5) s s  5
 No. 13

Properties Of Poles And Zeros

A
 s  2

2
 s  5 s 0
5

B
 s  2

3
s s  5 5

2 3 2 3 5 t
A B c(t )   e
C (s)    5 5
s s5 s s5 5 5
 No. 14

Properties Of Poles And Zeros

Figure 4.1
 No. 15

Poles, Zeros and System Response

From the development summarized in Figure 4.1(c),

we draw the following conclusions:
1. A pole of the input function generates the form of
the forced response (i.e., the pole at the origin
generated a step function at the output).
2. A pole of the transfer function generates the form
of the natural response (i.e., the pole at –5
generated e-5t).
 No. 16

Poles, Zeros and System Response

From the development summarized in Figure 4.1(c),
we draw the following conclusions:
3. A pole on the real axis generates a exponential
response of the form , where is the pole location
on the real axis. Thus, the farther to the left a
pole is on negative real axis, the faster
exponential transient response will decay to zero
(i.e., again the pole at –5, see Figure 4.2 for the
general case).
4. The zeros and poles generate the amplitudes for
both the forced and natural responses.
 No. 17

Poles, Zeros and System Response

 Technique of using poles to obtain the form of the system
response.
 Each pole of the system transfer function that is on the real axis
generates an exponential response that is a component of the
natural response.
 The input pole generates the forced response.

Figure 4.2
 No. 18

Example 1
Given the system of Figure 4.3, write the output, c(t), in
general terms. Specify the forced and natural parts of the
solution.

Figure 4.3
 No. 19

Solution : Example 1
By inspection, each system poles generates an exponential
as part of the natural response. The input’s pole generates
the forced response. Thus,

K1 K2 K3 K4
C (s)    
s ( s  2) ( s  4) ( s  5)
 
Forced
    
Natural Response

Response
 No. 20

Solution : Example 1 (continue)

Taking inverse transform, we get

c(t )  K1  K 2e 2t  K 3e 4t  K 4e 5t

  
Forced
 Natural
  
Response
Response
 No. 21

Example 2
A system has a transfer function,

10( s  4)( s  6)
G ( s) 
( s  1)( s  7)( s  8)( s  10)
Write, by inspection, the output, c(t), in general terms
if the input is a unit step.
 No. 22

Solution : Example 2

A B C D E
C (s)     
s ( s  1) ( s  7) ( s  8) ( s  10)
  
Forced
   Natural Response
    
Response

c(t )  A  Be t  Ce 7 t  De8t  Ee 10t

  
Forced
  Natural
 Response

Response
 No. 23

First Order Systems

- Time Constant
- Rise Time
- Settling Time

PART 2
 No. 24

First Order Systems

A first order system without zeros can be described by the
transfer function shown in Figure 4.4(a).

Figure 4.4
(a) First-order systems (b) Pole plot
 No. 25

First Order Systems

1
If the input is a unit step , where R( s) 
s
The Laplace transform of the step response is C(s), where
a
C ( s)  G ( s) R( s) 
s( s  a)

Taking the inverse transform, the step response is given by,

c(t )  c f (t )  cn (t )  1  e  at Equ. 4.1

 No. 26

First Order Systems

where the input pole at the origin generated the force
response, cf (t) = 1 , and the system pole at – a, as shown in
Fig.4.4(b), generated the natural response, cn (t) = -e –at .
 No. 27

First Order Systems

Equation 4.1 is then plotted as shown in Figure 4.5.
 No. 28

First Order Systems

Let’s examine the significance of parameter a, the only
parameter needed to describe the transient response. When
t1
a
 at 1
e  e  0.37 Equ. 4.2
t 1 / a
or
1
c(t ) t 1 / a  1  e  1  0.37  0.63 Equ. 4.3

Now we define three transient response performance

specifications.
 No. 29

Time Constant
1/a is the time constant of the response.
From Eq.(4.2), the time constant can be described as
the time for e-at to decay to 37% of its initial value.
Alternately, from Eq.(4.3), the time constant is the
time it takes for the step response to rise to 63% of
its final value (Fig.4.5).
The reciprocal of the time constant has the units
(1/seconds), or frequency.
 No. 30

Time Constant
We can call the parameter a the exponential frequency.
Since, the derivative of e-at is – a when t = 0, a is the
initial rate of change of the exponential at t = 0.
Thus, the time constant can be considered a transient
response specification for a first-order system, since it
is related to the speed at which the system responds to a
step input.
 No. 31

Time Constant
The time constant can also be evaluated from the
pole plot (Fig.4.4(b)).
Since, the pole of the transfer function is at – a, we
can say the pole is located at the reciprocal of the
time constant, and the farther the pole from the
imaginary axis, the faster the transient response.
Formula for time constant is,

1
a
time constant
 No. 32

Rise Time, Tr
Rise time, Tr is defined as the time for the
waveform to go from 0.1 to 0.9 of its final value.
Rise time is found by solving Eq.(4.2) for the
difference in time at
c1(t) = 0.9 and c2(t) = 0.1. Hence,

2.3 0.1 2.2

Tr   
a a a
 No. 33

Rise Time, Tr
where,

c1 (t )  1  e at  0.9 and c2 (t )  1  e at  0.1

1 e  at
 0.9 1  e  at  0.1
at
e  1  0.9 e at  1  0.1
 at  ln(1  0.1)  0.1
 at  ln(1  0.9)  2.3
0 .1
2.3 t 
t  a
a
 No. 34

Settling Time, Ts
Settling time is defined as the time for the response to reach,
and stay within 2% of its final value.
Letting c(t) = 0.98 in Eq.(4.1) and solving for time, t , we
find the settling time to be:

 ln(1  0.98)  3.91 4

Ts    
 a  a a
Formula for settling time is,

4
Ts 
a
 No. 35
First-Order Transfer Functions via
Testing
Since the transfer function is a representation of the
system from input to output, the system’s step
response can lead to a representation even though
the inner construction is not known.
With a step input, we can measure the time constant
and steady-state value, from which the transfer
function can be calculated.
 No. 36

First-Order Transfer Functions via

Testing
Consider a simple first-order system, G ( s)  K /( s  a )
whose step response is,

K K /a K /a
C (s)   
s( s  a) s ( s  a)

If we can identify K and a from laboratory testing, we can

obtain the transfer function of the system.
 No. 37
First-Order Transfer Functions via
Testing
For example:
Assume the unit step response given in Figure 4.6.
It has the first-order characteristics – no overshoot and nonzero
initial slope.

Figure 4.6
 No. 38
First-Order Transfer Functions via
Testing
From the response we measure the time constant, that is, the
time for the amplitude to reach 63% of its final value.
Since the final value is about 0.72, the time constant is
evaluated where the curve reach 0.63  0.72 = 0.45, or about
0.13 second.
Hence, time constant = 0.13 =
1
therefore,
a

1
a  7.7
0.13
 No. 39

First Order Systems

To find K, we realize that the forced response
reaches a steady-state value of K / a  0.72
Substituting the value of a = 7.7, we find
K  a  0.72  7.7  0.72  5.54
Thus, the transfer function for the system is
5.54
G ( s) 
s ( s  7.7)
*Note :Actually, the response of Figure 4.6 was generated
using the transfer function of G ( s)  5
s ( s  7)
 No. 40

Exercise 1
A system has a transfer function,
50
G ( s) 
s ( s  50)

Find the time constant, Tc ; settling time, Ts ; and rise time,

Tr.

Answer:
Tc = 0.02 s ; Ts = 0.08 s, and Tr = 0.044 s
 No. 41

Second Order Systems

- Introduction
- Overdamped Response
- Underdamped Response
- Undamped Response
- Critically Damped Response
PART 3
 No. 42

Introduction
A second-order system exhibits a wide range of
responses that must be analyzed and described.
Varying a first-order system’s parameter simply
changes the speed of the response; changes in the
parameters of a second-order system can change the
form of the response.
 No. 43

Introduction
Example, a second-order system can display
characteristics much like a first-order system or,
depending on component values, display damped or
pure oscillations for its transient response.
Numerical examples of the second-order system
responses are shown in Figure 4.7. All examples are
derived from Fig. 4.7(a), the general case, which has
two finite poles and no zeros.
 No. 44

Figure 4.7
second order
systems, pole
plots and step
responses
 No. 45

Introduction
The term in the numerator is simply a scale or input-
multiplying factor that can take on any value without
affecting the form of derived results.
By assigning appropriate values to parameters a and b, we
can show all possible second-order transient responses.
The unit step response then can be found using C(s) = R(s)
G(s) ,
where, Rfollowed
( s )  1 by a partial-fraction expansion and the
s
inverse Laplace transform.
 No. 46

Overdamped Response
For this response, Figure 4.7(b)

9 9
C ( s)  
s ( s  9s  9) s ( s  7.854)( s  1.146)
2
 No. 47

Overdamped Response
This function has a pole at the origin that comes
from the unit step input and two real poles that come
from the system.
The input pole at the origin generates the constant
forced response; each of the two system poles on the
real axis generates an exponential natural response
whose exponential frequency is equal to the pole
location.
 No. 48

Overdamped Response
The output initially could have been written as ;
c(t )  K1  K 2e 7.854t  K 3e 1.146t

This response is called overdamped (Figure 4.7(b).

It seems that the poles could tell the form of the
response without the tedious calculation on the
inverse L-transform.
 No. 49

Underdamped Response
For this response, Figure 4.7(c)
9
C ( s) 
s ( s 2  2s  9)

This function has a pole at the origin that comes from the
unit step input and two complex poles that come from the
system.
Compare the response of the second-order system to the
poles that generated it.
 No. 50

Underdamped Response
 
First compare the pole location to the time function, and the
compare the pole location to the plot. From Fig.4.7(c), the
poles that generate the natural response are s = -1  j .
Comparing these values to c(t) in the same figure, the real
part of the pole matches the exponential decay frequency of
the sinusoid’s amplitude, while the imaginary part of the pole
matches the frequency of the sinusoidal oscillation.
 No. 51

Underdamped Response
Let’s compare the pole location to the plot.
 No. 52

Underdamped Response
Figure 4.8 shows a general, underdamped response for a
second-order system.
 No. 53

Underdamped Response
The transient response consists of an exponentially
decaying amplitude generated by the real part of the
system pole times a sinusoidal waveform generated
by the imaginary part of the system pole.
The time constant of the exponential decay is equal
to the reciprocal of the real part of the system pole.
The value of the imaginary part is the actual
frequency of the sinusoid, depicted in (Fig.4.8).
 No. 54

Underdamped Response
This sinusoidal frequency is called damped
frequency of oscillation, d.
Finally, the steady-state response (unit step) was
generated by the input pole located at the origin.
The type of response shown in Figure 4.8 is called
an underdamped response, one which approaches a
steady-state value via a transient response that is a
damped oscillation.
 No. 55

Example 3
To demonstrate how a knowledge of the
relationship between the pole location and the
transient response can lead rapidly to the response
form without calculating the inverse Laplace
transform.
 No. 56
Example 3 - Form of underdamped
response using poles
By inspection, write the form of the step response of the
system in Figure 4.9.

Figure 4.9
 No. 57

Solution : Example 3
First, we determine that the form of the forced
response is a step.
Next, find the form of the natural response.
Factoring the denominator of the transfer function
in Figure 4.9, we find the poles to be s = -5 
j13.23.
 No. 58

Solution : Example 3 (continue)

The real part, -5, is the exponential frequency for the
damping. It is also the reciprocal of the time constant of the
decay of the oscillations.
The imaginary part, 13.23, is the radian frequency for the
sinusoidal oscillations.
Using previous discussion and Figure 4.7(c) as a guide, we
obtain:

c(t) = K1 + e-5t ( K2 cos 13.23t +

K3 sin 13.23t )
= K1 + K4 e-5t (cos 13.23t -  )
 No. 59

Solution : Example 3 (continue)

where,
 = tan-1 K3 / K2 , K4 = K2  K3
2 2

and c(t) is a constant plus an exponentially damped

sinusoid.
 No. 60

Undamped Response

For this response, Figure 4.7(d)

9
C ( s) 
s ( s 2  9)

This function has a pole at the origin that comes from the unit
step input and two imaginary poles that come from the
system.
 No. 61

Undamped Response
The input pole at the origin generates the constant
forced response, and the two system poles on the
imaginary axis at  j3 generate a sinusoidal natural
response whose frequency is equal to the location of
the imaginary poles.
 No. 62

Undamped Response

Hence, the output can be estimated as c(t) = K1 + K4 cos ( 3t

-  ).
The response type shown in Figure 4.7(d) is called
undamped.
Note that the absence of a real part in the pole pair
corresponds to an exponential that does not decay.
Mathematically the exponential is e-0t =1 .
 No. 63
Critically Damped Response

For this response, Figure 4.7(e)

9
C (s) 
s ( s 2  6 s  9)
 No. 64

Critically Damped Response

This function has a pole at the origin that comes from the
unit step input and two multiple real poles that come from
the system.
The input pole at the origin generates the constant forced
response, and the two poles on the real axis at -3 generate a
natural response consisting of an exponential and an
exponential multiplied by time, where the exponential
frequency is equal to the location of the real poles.
 No. 65

Critically Damped Response

Hence, the output can be estimated as c(t) = K1 + K2 e-3t + K3

t e-3t .
This type of response, shown in Figure 4.7(e), is called
critically damped.
Critical damped responses are the fastest possible without
the overshoot that is characteristic of the underdamped
response.
 No. 66

Summary of Second-Order Systems

Overdamped responses :
Poles : Two real at -1 , -2
Natural response :
cn(t) = K1 e -1t + K2 e-2t
Two exponentials with time constants equal to the
reciprocal of the pole locations, or

cn(t) = K1 e -1t + K2 e-2t

 No. 67
Summary of Second-Order
Systems
Underdamped responses :
Poles : Two complex at -d  jd
Natural response : Damped sinusoid with an exponential
envelope whose time constant is equal to the reciprocal of
the pole’s real part. The radian frequency of the sinusoid,
the damped frequency of oscillation, is equal to the
imaginary part of the poles, or

cn(t) = A e -dt cos d t - 

 No. 68
Summary of Second-Order
Systems
Undamped responses :
Poles : Two imaginary at  j1
cn(t) = A cos (1 t -  )
Natural response : Undamped sinusoid with radian
frequency equal to the imaginary part of the poles, or

cn(t) = A cos (1 t -  )

 No. 69
Summary of Second-Order
Systems
Critically damped responses :
Poles : Two real at -1
cn(t) = K1 e-1t + K2 te-1t
Natural response : One term is an exponential whose time
constant is equal to the reciprocal of the pole
location.Another term is the product of time, t , and an
exponential with time constant equal to the reciprocal of
the pole location, or

cn(t) = K1 e-1t + K2 te-1t

Summary of Second-Order No. 70

Systems
The step responses for the four cases of damping discussed
in this section are superimposed in Figure 4.10.
Notice that the critically damped case is the division
between the overdamped cases and the underdamped cases
and is the fastest response without overshoot.

Figure 4.10
 No. 71

General Second Order System

- Natural Frequency
- Damping Ratio

PART 4
 No. 72

The General Second Order System

In this section we define two physically meaningful

specifications for second-order system.

Natural Frequency, wn
the frequency of oscillation of the system without damping.
 No. 73

The General Second Order System

Damping Ratio, 
we define the damping ratio, , to be:

exponentia l decay frequency

 
natural frequency (rad/secon d)
1 natural period

2 exponentia l time constant
 No. 74

The General Second Order System

Damping Ratio,
Consider the general system
b
G (s)  2
s  as  b
Without damping, the poles would be on the jw axis, and the
response would be an undamped sinusoid. For the poles to
be purely imaginary, a=0. Hence, by definition, the natural
frequency, wn, is the frequency of oscillation of this system.
Since the poles of this system are on the jw axis at ,
 j b wn  b
 No. 75

The General Second Order System

Damping Ratio,
2
Hence, b  w n

Assuming an underdamped system, the complex poles have

a real part, equalto –a/2. The magnitude of this value is
then the exponential decay frequency described in section
4.4. Hence,

 a
Exponentia l decay frequency
    2
Natural frequency (rad / sec) wn wn
 a  2wn
 No. 76

The General Second Order System

Damping Ratio,
Our general second-order transfer function finally looks like
this:
n 2
G ( s)  2
s  2n  n 2
 Solving the poles of the transfer function, G(s) yields:

s1, 2  wn  wn  2  1
The various cases of second-order response are a function of

and are summarized in Figure 4.11.
No. 77
 No. 78

Example 4
Given the transfer function as shown below, find 
and wn.
36
G (s)  2
s  4.2 s  36
 No. 79

Solution : Example 4
Compare with the general second-order transfer function,

36
G (s)  2
s  4.2 s  36
2
wn
G ( s)  2
s  2wn  wn
2
 No. 80

Solution : Example 4 (continue)

Therefore
2
wn  36
 wn  6

2wn  4.2
4.2
   0.35
2 6
 No. 81

Exercise 2
For each of the systems shown in Figure 4.12, finds
the value of and give the kind of response expected.

Answer:
a) 1.15, overdamped response
b) 1, critically damped response
c) 0.894, underdamped response
 No. 82

Underdamped Second Order

System
- Peak Time
- Overshoot
PART 5 - Settling Time
- Rise Time
 No. 83
UNDERDAMPED SECOND
ORDER SYSTEMS
A common model for physical problem.
A plot of this response appears in Figure 4.13 for various
values of , plotted along a time axis normalized to the
natural frequency.
 No. 84
Underdamped Second Order
Systems
We have defined two parameters associated with second-order systems,
 parameters associated with the undamped response are
and wn. Others
percentage overshoot (%OS), peak time (Tp), settling time (Ts) and rise
time (Tr). These specifications are defined as follow (refer Figure 4.14):
 No. 85
Underdamped Second Order
Systems
1. Peak time, Tp : The time required to reach the first, or
maximum peak.
2. Percent overshoot, %OS : The amount that the
waveform overshoots the steady state, or final value at
the peak time.
3. Settling time, Ts : The time required for the transient’s
damped oscillations to reach and stay within +2% of
the steady state value.
4. Rise time, Tr : The time required for the waveform to
go from 0.1 of the final value to 0.9 of the final value.
 No. 86
Underdamped Second Order
Systems
Evaluation of Tp

Tp 
wn 1   2

Cmax  C final  ( 1 2 )

%OS  of %OS
Evaluation  100  e  100
C final

 ( 1 2 )
Cmax  1  e
where
 No. 87

Underdamped Second Order

Systems
and for the unit step used;
C final  1

The inverse of this equation allows to solve for by:

 ln(%OS / 100)
 
 2  ln 2 (%OS / 100)
 No. 88

Underdamped Second Order

Systems
Evaluation of Ts
For criteria between +2%
4
Ts 
wn
For criteria between +5%
3
Ts 
wn
 No. 89
Underdamped Second Order
Systems

Figure 4.17 Pole plot for an underdamped second-order system

 No. 90
Underdamped Second Order
Systems

Evaluation of Tr
wd is the imaginary part of the pole and called the damped
frequency of oscillation, and
isd the magnitude of the real part of the pole and called
as exponential damping frequency.
 No. 91
Example 5 - Finding Tp, %OS and Ts
from transfer function

Given the transfer function

100
G(s)  2
s  15s  100

Find  , wn, Tp, %OS, Ts and Tr.

 No. 92
Solution : Example 5

Natural frequency, Damping ratio,

2
wn  100 2wn  15
 wn  10 15
 
10  2
  0.75
 No. 93

Solution : Example 5 (continue)

Peak Time, Overshoot,

Tp  %OS  e  ( 1 2 )
100
wn 1   2
 ( 0.75 1 0.752 )
 %OS  e  100
Tp 
10 1  0.752
 %OS  2.838
 T p  0.475
 No. 94

Solution : Example 5 (continue)

Settling time,
4
Ts 
wn
4
Ts 
0.75  10
Ts  0.5333

#From Fig. 4.15, we get Tr=2.3,

Tr = 2.3/wn
Tr = 2.3/10
Tr = 0.23 s

Answer: 0.75, 10, 0.475 s, 2.838%, 0.533 s and 0.23 s

 No. 95

Example 6 - Finding Tp, %OS and Ts from pole location

Given the pole plot shown in Figure 4.17, find , wn,

Tp, %OS and Ts.
 No. 96

Solution : Example 6

  cos 
1 7
  cos(tan )
3
  cos(1.166)

  0.394

wn  7 2  32
 wn  7.616
 No. 97

Solution : Example 6 (continue)


Tp 
wn 1   2

 
Tp  
wd 7

T p  0.449 sec
 No. 98

Solution : Example 6 (continue)

Percent Overshoot,

 ( 1 2 )
%OS  e 100
 ( 0.394 1 0.3942 )
%OS  e 100
%OS  26%
 No. 99

Solution : Example 7 (continue)

Settling time

4
Ts 
wn
4 4
Ts  
d 3
Ts  1.333 sec
 No. 100
Exercise 3
Given the system shown below, find J and D to yield
20% overshoot and a settling time of 2s for a step
input of Torque(t).

Answer:
J = 0.26 kgm2
D = 1.04 Nms/rad
 No. 101

Thank you for

your attention.