Step and natural responses of parallel RLC circuits

We find the voltage across the parallel branches or the current in the individual branches
as a result of the sudden application of a dc current source

There may or may not be energy stored in the circuit

Consider the following circuit

Observations :

After the switch has been open for a long time

the inductor current equals the dc current , I

KCL

Applying KCL in the above circuit gives

IC + I L + I R = I

or

dV
V
+ IL + = Is
dt
R

We know that

V =L

then we obtain

LC

di L
dt

d 2iL
L di L
+ iL +
= Is
2
R dt
dt

rearranging terms algebraically yields

d 2 iL
I
1 di L
1
+
+
iL = s
2
RC dt LC
LC
dt

8.1

General form of representation

Let us make a change of variable and rewrite the 2nd order differential equation as

d 2x
dx
+ 2
+ 02 x = u
2
dt
dt
where

x : denoting i L
u : denoting the forcing input and is equal to I s 02
and

1
2 RC

0 =

1
LC

General solution

We consider the general solution of a 2nd order differential equation with constant coefficients
as
composed of two parts, namely

homogeneous
solution, x h

particular
solution, x p

Therefore, the overall solution can be written as

x = xh + x p

Homogeneous solution

Sometimes referred to as natural response or zero-input solution of the system

A solution that corresponds to the solution when the forcing input does NOT exist

It can be considered as the response of the system

resulting from the initial energy stored in the circuit

Therefore, we have

d 2 xh
dx
+ 2 h + 02 x h = 0
2
dt
dt

8.2

We assume that the solution is of exponential form

x h = Ae st
where

A, s : some constants
Substituting into the 2nd-order differential equation gives

Ae st ( s 2 + 2 s + 02 ) = 0
Which implies that the characteristic polynomial satisfies

s 2 + 2 s + 02 = 0
then the roots of the characteristic equation are

s1 = + 2 02
s 2 = 2 02
There exist 3 different situations for the roots of the characteristic equation.

Overdamped case

If 02 < 2 , both roots will be real and distinct

The homogeneous solution is said to be overdamped

We can give the homogeneous solution in the following form

x h = A1e s1t + A2 e s2t

A1 , A2 are some constants

where

The constants A1 , A2 can be solved by using x (0) and x (0)

Note that given x (0) , one can solve x (0) from the original differential equation

Underdamped case

If 02 > 2 , both s1 and s 2 will be complex and conjugates of each other

The homogeneous solution is said to be underdamped and can be written as follows

x h = B1e t cos d t + B 2 e t sin d t

8.3

 d = 02 2 and B1 , B2 are some constants

where

In a similar manner, B1 and B2 are obtained by utilizing x (0), x (0)

Critically damped case

The third possible outcome is that 02 = 2

In this case, s1 and s 2 will be real and equal

The homogeneous solution is said to be critically damped and can be written as

x h = D1te t + D2 e t
where

D1 , D2 are some constants

Note that one can solve D1 and D2

by employing the initial conditions of x (0), x (0)

Particular solution

Sometimes referred to as forced response

A solution that results due to the existence of a forcing input

The particular solution has a similar structure with the forcing input

Step input

When the forcing input is a step function, i.e. u = 02 I s with I s being a constant dc source,
then

xp = B Is

Substituting x p into the differential equation yields

d2
d
( BK ) + 2 ( BK ) + 02 BI s = 02 I s
2
dt
dt
2
2
0 BI s = 0 I s B = 1

Hence, the particular solution is written as

xp = Is
8.4

The overall solution for three different cases are given as follows

x = xh + x p

0 < ;

x = A1 e s1t + A2 e s2 t + I s

0 > ;
0 = ;

x = B1e t cos d t + B2 e t sin d t + I s

x = D1te t + D2 e t + I s

The constants ( A1 , A2 ) , ( B1 , B2 ) or ( D1 , D2 ) can be solved using x (0), x (0)

Consider the following circuit

Ex.

The initial current in the inductor is 29mA

The initial voltage across the capacitor is 50V

a.

i L (0) = ?

Energy is stored in the

circuit at the instant the
dc current is applied

b. di L (0) / dt = ?
c.

i L (t ) = ?

d. VL (t ) = ? for t 0

a. No instantaneous change of current in an inductor

i L (0) = 29mA
b.

L di L (0)
= V L ( 0 + ) = VC ( 0)
dt
25 10 3

di L (0)
= 50
dt

di L (0)
= 2 10 3 A / s
dt

8.5

c. Applying KCL gives

iC + i L + i R = I

dVC
V
+ iL + C = I s
dt
R
d 2iL
L di L
+ iL +
= Is
2
R dt
dt
d 2iL
1 di L
1
+
+
iL = I s
2
RC dt LC
dt

LC

The characteristic equation

s2 +

1
1
s+
=0
9
3
500 25 10
25 10 25 10 9

s 2 + 80000 s + 16 10 8 = 0

s1 = 40000

s 2 = 40000

The homogeneous solution can be written as

i Lh = D1te 40000 t + D2 e 40000 t

Before solving for the constants D1 and D2 , we find the particular solution

i Lp = B (24)mA
d2
d
( B 24) + 80000 ( B 24) + 16 10 8 ( B 24) = 24 16 10 8
2
dt
dt
B =1

Hence, we have

i L = D1te 40000 t + D2 e 40000 t + 24 10 3

8.6

Using initial conditions

i L (0) = 29 10 3 = D2 + 24 10 3

D2 = 5 10 3

di L (0)
= D1e 40000 t 40000 D1te 40000 40000 D2 e 40000
t =0
dt
= D1 4 10 4 5 10 3 = 2 10 3

D1 = 2200

Hence we get

i L (t ) = (24 + 2.2 10 6 te 40000 t + 5e 40000 t )mA

d.

di L (t )
dt
= 25 10 3 2.2 10 6 e 40000 t + 2.2 10 6 t (40000)e 40000 t + 5 (40000)e 40000 t 10 3

V L (t ) = L

= 55 10 3 e 40000 t 2.2 10 9 te 40000 t 5 10 3 e 40000 t 10 3

= 50e 40000 t 2.2 10 6 te 40000 t

To check this result, let us verify that the initial voltage across the inductor is

V (0) = 50 (1) 2.2 10 6 (0) (1)

= 50 V

The natural and step response of series RLC circuit

We can use the same approach

that we employed for the parallel RLC circuit

Because both circuits are described by differential equations of the same form

Let us consider the following circuit

8.7

V R + V L + VC = V

iC = C

dVC
dt

dVC
d 2VC
+ LC
+ VC = V s
RC
dt
dt 2
We can write the resulting expression as

d 2VC R dVC
V
1
+
+
VC = s
2
L dt
LC
LC
dt
or

d 2VC
dV
+ 2 C + 02VC = 02Vs
2
dt
dt
where

R
2L

0 =

1
LC

Therefore, the homogeneous and particular solution approach can as well be used

to get the overall solution

The switch in the circuit shown has been in position a for a long time. At time t=0, it moves to
position b. Find

Ex.

a.

i (0 + )

b. VC (0 +

di (0 + ) / dt
d. i (t ) = ? for t 0
c.

a. No instantaneous change in the current through the inductor, i.e.

i L (0 + ) = 0
b. VC (0 + ) =

15
80 = 50 V
24

c.

VC (0 + ) 100 + V L (0 + ) = 0
50 100 + 5 10 3

di L (0 + )
=0
dt

di L (0 + )
= 10 4 A / s
dt
8.8

d. Applying KVL gives

3

VC 100 + 5 10 2 10

d 2VC
dV
+ 80 2 10 6 C = 0
2
dt
dt

d 2VC
dV
+ 16 10 3 C + 10 8 VC = 1010
2
dt
dt

The characteristic equation is obtained as

s 2 + 16 10 3 s + 10 8 = 0

= 8 10 3

0 = 10 4

d = 10 8 64 10 6 = 6000

As 2 < 02 , we have

VCh (t ) = B1 e 8000 t cos( 6000t ) + B2 e 8000 t sin( 6000t )

homogeneous solution

The particular solution, VCp (t ) is

VCp (t ) = V s = 100

Thus, the overall solution can be written as

VC (t ) = B1e 8000 t cos( 6000t ) + B2 e 8000 t sin( 6000t ) + 100

Using the initial conditions gives

VC (0) = 50 = B1 + 100

B1 = 50

dVC (0 + )
= [ 8000 B1e 8000t cos(6000t ) 6000 B1 e 8000t sin(6000t ) 8000 B2 e 8000t sin(6000t )
dt
+ B2 e 8000t 6000 cos(6000t )

t=0

= 8000 B1 + 6000 B2 = 10 4
40 10 4 + 6000 B2 = 10 4

B2 =

390
= 65
6

8.9

VC (t ) = 50e 8000 t cos( 6000t ) 65e 8000 t sin( 6000t ) + 100 ,

t0

Then we can compute i (t )

dVC (t )
dt
8000 t
= 2 10 6 [ 50 (8000)e
cos(6000t ) + 50e 8000 t (6000) + sin(6000t )

i (t ) = C

65 (8000)e 8000 t sin(6000t ) 65e 8000 t (6000) cos(6000t )]

= 2 10 6 10 4 e 8000 t cos(6000t ) + 82 10 4 e 8000 t sin(6000t )

= 0.02e

8000 t

cos(6000t ) + 1.64e

8000 t

sin(6000t )

8.10