Pspice Simulation

Step Response of RC and

RLC Circuit

Laboratory 1: ENGN 1218

Experiment 8: Pspice simulation
(computer lab, block e

Name: Sharidya Rahman

Name of demonstrator:
Abstract:

The rapid change in the field of Electrical Engineering is paralleled by programs that use the computers
increased capabilities in the solution of both traditional and novel problems. With the availability of
tools of circuit analysis circuits of greater complexity can be designed and analyzed with in shorter
time and with less effort compared to the traditional method. PSPICE is a computer aided simulation
program that enables the design and simulation of circuits. Its general purpose is to verify circuit
design and predict circuit behavior. It is the acronym for Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits
Emphasis. It was developed at the University of Berkeley, California and is capable of doing different
types of circuit analysis. Typical Simulation includes Non-linear Dc Analysis, Nonlinear Transient
Analysis, Parametric Analysis and Monte Carlo Analysis. In addition it has analog and digital libraries
of standard components that makes it a useful tool for a wide range of analog and digital applications.

Theory:
Many phenomena that occur in electric circuits involve or produce time-dependent variables.
When a RC, RL, or RLC circuit is suddenly energized or de-energized, a transient phenomenon
occurs which dies out as the circuit approaches the steady-state operation, occurs. This is
because of the way in which inductors and capacitors store energy and resistors dissipate the
energy. The nature of the transients depends on the values of R, L and C as well as on how they
are combined in a circuit.

An RC circuit is a circuit with both a resistor and a capacitor. RC circuits are frequent element
in electronic devices and play an important role in the transmission of electrical signals in nerve
cells. This two elements model the behavior of many complex circuits and devices. Their
characteristics ultimately define the device performance and have vast application like building
block of digital circuit, MOS transistors etc.
A capacitor can store energy and a resistor placed in series with it will control the rate at which
it charges or discharges. This produces a characteristic time dependence that turns out to be
exponential. The crucial parameter that describes the time dependence is the "time constant" R
C.
Time constant ,t = RC

RCL CIRCUIT:
An RLC circuit (or LCR circuit) is an electrical circuit consisting of a resistor, an inductor,
and a capacitor, connected in series or in parallel. Their response takes different shape
depending on the value of passive elements. The steady state response of the circuit,
which is determined by the external source, is reached only after a transient time interval.
So the response of RLC circuits may be classified as under damped, critically damped or
over damped.
Damping is caused by the resistance in the circuit. It determines whether or not the circuit
will resonate naturally (that is, without a driving source). Circuits which will resonate in
this way are described as under damped and those that will not are over damped.
The RLC circuit can be represented by a transfer function as follows:

1/(𝐿𝐶)
Vc/Vs = 𝑅
𝑠2+( )𝑠+1/𝐿𝐶
𝐿

In case of underdamping, the circuit tends to exhibit decreasing oscillations with an initial
overshoot that directly depends on the value of damping factor. In this case the the root of the
equation is less than zero:
(R/2L)2 – 1/LC < 0

In case of Critical damping it gives fast response with minimal overshoot and no oscillation.
But this system is on the limit of oscillations. Here the root of the equation is equal to zero:
(R/2L)2 – 1/LC = 0

When the circuit is overdamped it exhibits a relatively slow transition without any oscillations.
The root of the equation becomes greater than zero under such circumstances: (R/2L)2 – 1/LC
>0

Results and Discussions:

Prelab:
R1
1)
470
V1 = 0 V1
V2 = 5
TD = 0 C1
TR = 1n
TF = 1n 0.22u
PW = 1m 0
PER = 2m

For the above circuit: Time constant, Ʈ=RC

=470*0.22*10−6
=1.034*10−4s

When R=220Ω, Ʈ=4.84*10−5

For critically damped response, (R/2L)2 – 1/LC = 0
𝑅 2 1
( ) = R=200Ω
2𝐿 10∗10−3 ∗1∗10−6

For underdamped response: (R/2L)2 – 1/LC < 0,

𝑅 2 1
( ) < R<200Ω
2𝐿 10∗10−3 ∗1∗10−6

For over damped response, (R/2L)2 – 1/LC > 0,

𝑅 2 1
( ) > , R>200Ω
2𝐿 10∗10−3 ∗1∗10−6

Test 2

Objectives:
RC Circuit

1. To observe and trace the complete response to step input.

2. To determine the time constant and check with the theoretically calculated value.

Results: When R=470Ω

R1

0V 0A 0V
470

V
V1 = 0 0A
V1
V2 = 5 V
TD = 0 C1
TR = 1n
TF = 1n 0.22u
PW = 1m
PER = 2 m
0V
0
  Rise time of 10 % at 500.015m V or 0.5V = 10.89μ s
 Rise time of 90 % at 4.50 V = 238μ s
 Rise time (90% - 10%) = 227.1 μ s
 Time constant 63.21 % at 3.1616 V = 103.456μ s

When R=220Ω

R1

0V 0A 0V
220

V
V1 = 0 0A
V1
V2 = 5 V
TD = 0 C1
TR = 1n
TF = 1n 0.22u
PW = 1m
PER = 2 m
0V
0
  Rise time of 10 % at 499.980m V = 5.1002μ s
 Rise time of 90 % at 4.4999 V = 111.433μ s
 Rise time (90% -10%) = 106.333μ s
 Time constant 63.21 % at 3.1616 V = 48.401μ s

Discussion:

The rise time and time constant when is higher when Resistance is greater.
This is because when the resistance is lower in the circuit voltage built up faster and more
current flows in the circuit in a shorter time. Hence charging time is smaller.
Since the input is a periodic wave, the output voltage across the capacitor is also a periodic wave. In
each period the output voltage across the capacitor consists of two parts:

During the half period when the input is a positive constant, the capacitor gets charged exponentially.
Hence the output voltage during this half period is an exponentially increasing signal. At the end of
this half period has attained certain positive peak value.

During the half period when the input is a negative constant, the capacitor gets discharged exponentially.
Hence the output voltage during this half period is an exponentially decreasing signal. By the end of
this half period voltage across the capacitor falls to zero when it is completely discharged. Therefore
the graph appeared as shown. Also the theoretically calculated values of time constant matched exactly
with the experimental values. Hence the experiment was performed correctly.
Test 3:
Objective:
RLC CIRCUIT
 To adjust the parameter so that a critical, underdamped and overdamped RLC
circuit are obtained.
 To compare the resistance with the theoretically value.
 To trace the response characteristics.
 From the trace response, to obtain the period of oscillation, time constant and
peak overshoot and compare these values to the theoretically calculated values.
 To calculate the value of the damping coefficient and to check over damping
character of the circuit.

Results:
Critically Damped Response:

R1 L1

0A 0V 0A
200 10mH

0V
0V

V V
V1 = 0 0A
V1 C1
V2 = 5
TD = 0 1u
TR = 1n
TF = 1n
PW = 50 m
PER = 1 00m

0V
0
 Here R=200Ω as shown in prelab.

 Rise time of 10 % at 500.495m V = 0.053m s

 Rise time of 90 % at 4.5007 V = 0.389m s
 Rise time (90% - 10%) = 0.335 ms

 Time constant 63.21 % at 3.1607 V =0.214ms

Under Damping:
 R1 L1

0A 0V 0A
40 10mH

0V
0V

V V
V1 = 0 0A
V1 C1
V2 = 5
TD = 0 1u
TR = 1n
TF = 1n
PW = 50 m
PER = 1 00m

0V
0

In case of Underdamping, the value of resistance must be less than 200Ω.

Ru = Rc/5

= 200/5

=40 Ω

 Period of oscillation ;
=0. 824ms – 0.180ms =0. 644m s
 Theoretically value of period of oscillation.
ωd = 2π/T = [1/LC – (R/2L)2]1/2
 2𝜋T = [1/(10m x 1μ) – (40 / 2 x 10m)2]1/2

T = 6.41275 x 10-4 s

 Peak overshoot= 7.63 V , 0.321m s

 Rise time of the peak overshoot =0.250m s – 0.131m s
= 0.119ms
 Rise time of 10 % at 500.005m V = 0.0465m s
 Rise time of 90 % at 4.8251 V = 0.179m s
 Rise time (90% - 10%) = 0.133 m s
 Time constant 63.21 % at 3.1604 V = 0.131ms

Over Damping:

R1 L1

0A 0V 0A
600 10mH

0V
0V

V V
V1 = 0 0A
V1 C1
V2 = 5
TD = 0 1u
TR = 1n
TF = 1n
PW = 50m
PER = 100m

0V
0
  Rise time of 10 % at 500.245m V = 0.0786m s
 Rise time of 90 % at 4.5001 V = 1.3596m s
 Rise time (90% - 10%) = 0.1281ms
 Time constant 63.21 % at 3.1611 V = 0.6004ms
Discussion:
The step response of RLC circuits can be classified as one of three types of damping that
describes the output in relation to the steady-state response.
For the critically damped response, the resistance is 200 Ω.
The time constant for this response is 214.627μ s.
This critically damped response represents the circuit response that decays in the fastest
possible time without going into oscillation

For the under damped response, the resistance is 40 Ω, which is Ru = Rc/5.

The time constant is 131.100μ s.
For an underdamped response, it yields an exponentially decreasing sinusoidal output
in response to a step input.

For the over damped response, the resistance is 600 Ω.

The time constant is 600.427μ s
An over damped response is the response that does not oscillate about the steady-state
value but takes longer to reach than the critically damped case.

Conclusion:
In this experiment, we were introduced to an important and significant software that is used
extensively in circuit manipulations and implementing engineering applications. We learned
about the various functions and operations of Pspice and grasped many aspects of this
remarkable software. Furthermore we simulated two popular circuits-RC and RLC circuit-
which plays a vital role in electrical industry. We also discovered that RLC circuits are widely
used in a variety of applications such as filters in communications systems, ignition systems
in automobiles, defibrillator circuits in biomedical applications

For RC circuit , all of the trace responses are obtained which are the rise time and the time
constant and the value from the graph is compared to the theoretically calculated value. The
agreement between the two datas verified the accuracy of the experiment.

For RLC circuit, the trace responses obtained are time constant, rise time, period of oscillation
and the peak overshoot of the simulation. These responses also have been compared to the
theoretically calculated value.

The RLC circuit had three types of response: under damped, critical damped and over damped.
In underdamped systems overshoot is a an important parameter where large overshoot might
result in the saturation of some electronic components. On the other hand, the overshoot level
cannot be measured for circuits having a large damping factor.

Reference:
 E.W Gill, Memorial University of New Foundland, Faculty of Engineering and
Applied Science, Laboratory Manual for Circuit Analysis, 2013:
http://www.engr.mun.ca
 J.D Irwin, “Basic Engineering Circuit Analysis”, “5th edition, Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River, NJ, 1996.
 Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Electrical Simulation Laboratory Manual, EE-453,
: www.droncharya.info
 Dr. P. Payeur, University of Ottawa, Circuit Theory, ELG-2130B, 2007,
www.coe.montana.edu
 “Introduction to PSpice Using OrCAD”, J.W.Nilsson, S.A.Riedel, Pearson Education
Inc., 2011.