West Virginia University

College of Engineering & Mineral Resources

Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering EE224 Electric Circuits Laboratory S 2006

Experiment No.2 The Natural and Step Responses of Series RLC Circuit Objective: This experiment will study the response of a series RLC circuit to a driven pulse
train with a frequency between 0 Hz and 500 Hz. In particular the under-damped response will be explored. The dependence of the frequency on the component values will be verified. Designed circuit has many applications and one of them is as a sound circuit in the racecar where it is shown that obtained oscillatory response can produce more pleasing motor sound to driver than the pulse train with a frequency between 0 Hz and 500 Hz produced directly by sensor on the motor shaft.

Theoretical Background: The series RLC circuit is a classic dynamic circuit in the studies of electrical engineering. One of the primary applications of this circuit is for a band-pass filter which only allows signals to pass in a particular range of frequency. (This specific case will be studied later in the following experiments). This is extremely important in radios since people want to receive stations at certain frequencies but not at the others.
We will first derive the expression for the current response in a source free series RLC circuit. Differential equation that describes the current in the circuit has the form (Kirchoffs Voltage Law has been applied to the closed path in the circuit):

di 1 Ri + L + id +V0 = 0 dt C 0

(1)

if we differentiate (1) with respect to t to get: R di d 2i i +L 2 + =0 dt C dt (2)

which we can rearrange as: d 2 i R di i + + =0 2 L dt LC dt (3)

the solution for this equation is given in this form:

s2 + 1 R s+ =0 L LC

(4)

Equation (4) is called the characteristic equation of the differential equation because the roots of this quadratic equation will determine the mathematical character of i(t). The roots are:
R 1 R = 2L LC 2L
2
2

s1, 2

(5)

or s1, 2 = 2 0 Where:

(6)

= is neper frequency or damping factor. o = resonant frequency. The diagram below represents a basic series RLC circuit:

The neper frequency for the series RLC circuit is:

R 1 s 2L

(7)

whereas the expression for the resonant radian frequency is:

o =

1 LC

rad / s (8)

The current response will be : i (t ) = A1e s1t + A2 e s 2t

o2 < 2 (overdamped), i (t ) = B1e t cos d t + B2 e t sin d t for o2 > 2 (underdamped),

for for i (t ) = D1te t + D2 e t

o2 = 2 (critically damped).

Similarly, we can obtain the voltage across the capacitor vc(t) in the form of three different damped solutions, again by applying Kirchhoffs voltage law to the same RLC circuit.

The following figure shows plots of these responses for a source free circuit.

The terms overdamped, underdamped, and critically damped are used to describe the impact of the dissipative element R on the response. The effect of R is reflected in the neper frequency, or damping factor . If is large compared with the resonant frequency o, the voltage or current approaches its final value without oscillation, and the nonoscillatory response is called overdamped. If is small compared to o, the response oscillates about its final value, and this response is called underdamped. The smaller the value of is, the longer the oscillation persists. If the dissipative element is removed from the circuit, equals zero and the voltage or current response becomes a sustained oscillation. The critical value of occurs when = o; in this case, the response is on the verge of oscillation and is called the critically damped response.

All three responses start out at some initial condition (e.g. 15V) and all eventually decay to zero. The temporal decay of the responses is caused by energy loss in the circuit and is called damping. The case A response does not change sign and is called the overdamped response. The case C response undershoots and then oscillates about the final value. This response is said to be underdamped because there is not enough damping to prevent these oscillations. The case B response is said to be ciritically damped since it is a special case at the boundary between overdamping and underdamping.

Experimental Procedure:
(1) We have in our lab the following component values available: R = 10 ohms, C =0.1uf, L = 15000uH. (2) With these values of R, C, and L, find out damping constant and also the frequency of oscillations for the series RLC circuit. (3) Determine the nature of response this circuit will produce with the given component values. (4) Determine the expression for voltage across capacitor, Vc(t). (5) Connect the circuit on a bread board. (6) Observe the voltage across capacitor on the oscilloscope, when the circuit is driven by pulse train with a 100 Hz frequency. (7) Simulate the same circuit in Pspice. (8) Write a program in Matlab that plots a graph of Vc vs. time. (9) For your report: Construct a single graph of the oscillations obtained in the lab. Plot Vc vs. time. Note: Please follow the format of the report given in the syllabus.