3.3 Applications 141
The electrical systems considered here form a network of elements, i.e.,
ideal inductors, capacitors and resistors. Each system element forms a
branch of the network, and the interconnection between the elements de-
fine the nodes of the network. A simple approach to modeling these systems
is to assign a flow variable (i.e., a current) to each branch of the network.
This will usually result in a large number of variables that are not all inde-
pendent. In fact, if B is the number of branches in the network, and N is
the number of nodes in the network, then the number of independent flow
variables will be n = B − N + 1. Equations relating the dependent vari-
ables to the independent variables can be obtained by applying Kirchhoff’s
current law at the nodes of the network.
2. Applied effort analysis.
The virtual work done by all effort (i.e., voltage) sources must be defined
in terms of the generalized displacements. Here, the virtual work done by
an effort source is positive if the current flows from the negative terminal
to the positive terminal of the source.
Example 3.16.
RLC circuit
The RLC (resistor R, inductor L, capacitor C) shown here
has an applied voltage v. The dynamic analysis of this
system using Lagrange’s equation proceeds as follows.
The current, i = dq/dt = ˙q, is selected as the generalized
flow variable, and q is the corresponding charge (i.e., the
generalized displacement).
Applied effort analysis:
The virtual work done by the voltage is δW = v δq = e
s
q
δq.
Therefore, the generalized effort is e
s
q
= v.
Lagrange’s equation:
The kinetic coenergy, potential energy and the dissipation function are
T
∗
= L ˙q
2
/2, V = q
2
/(2C), and D = R ˙q
2
/2, respectively. Using these func-
tions we have the following results:
∂T
∗
∂ ˙q
= L ˙q,
d
dt
∂T
∗
∂ ˙q
= L¨q,
∂D
∂ ˙q
= R ˙q, and
∂V
∂q
=
q
C
.
Hence, Lagrange’s equation for this system is
d
dt
∂T
∗
∂ ˙q
−
∂T
∗
∂q
+
∂D
∂ ˙q
+
∂V
∂q
= e
s
q
,