Transients and Laplace transforms 911
Substituting these expressions into equation (45.22) gives:
LCAm
2
e
mt
C RCAme
mt
C Ae
mt
D 0
i.e., Ae
mt
m
2
LC C mRC C 1 D 0
Thus
v
C
D Ae
mt
is a solution of the given equation provided that
m
2
LC C mRC C 1 D 0 45.23
This is called the auxiliary equation.
Using the quadratic formula on equation (45.23) gives:
m D
RC š
[RC
2
4LC1]
2LC
D
RC š
R
2
C
2
4LC
2LC
i.e., m D
RC
2LC
š
R
2
C
2
4LC
2LC
2
D
R
2L
š
R
2
C
2
4L
2
C
2
4LC
4L
2
C
2
D
R
2L
š
R
2L
2
1
LC
45.24
This equation may have either:
(i) two different real roots, when R/2L
2
>1/LC, when the circuit
is said to be overdamped since the transient voltage decays very
slowly with time, or
(ii) two real equal roots, when R/2L
2
D 1/LC, when the circuit is
said to be critically damped since the transient voltage decays in
the minimum amount of time without oscillations occurring, or
(iii) two complex roots, when R/2L
2
<1/LC, when the circuit is
said to be underdamped since the transient voltage oscillates about
the final steady state value, the oscillations eventually dying away
to give the steady state value, or
(iv) if R
= 0 in equation (45.24), the oscillations would continue
indefinitely without any reduction in amplitude—this is the
undamped condition.
Damping in discussed again in Section 45.8 with typical current responses
sketched in Figure 45.28 on page 947.
Problem 5. A series L –R–C circuit has inductance, L D 2mH,
resistance, R D 1k and capacitance, C D 5
µF. (a) Determine
whether the circuit is over, critical or underdamped. (b) If C D
5 nF, determine the state of damping.