Basic understanding of systems,transients and

steady state

Transients

Basic reason for existence of transient arises from the fact that nothing can
happen instantaneous. Even the fastest thing, light takes certain amount
of time to travel a certain distance. Although some changes are so fast
that we will ignore its existence with respect to some other changes of our
concern. While reason for Oscillation is energy storing elements or simply
due to energy stored while reaching to equilibrium position.
For example consider the following examples

1.1

Spring mass system

Suppose we have to find the elongation in a spring when a block of mass m

is suddenly attached to it. Now from basic force equation of spring
Kx = mg
where

K=spring constant
x=elongation in spring
m=mass of the block
g=acceleration due to gravity

From above equation it appears that elongation in spring will be given

by x = mg/k and block will remain steady at that position. But things
are more interesting and weird in reality.

In reality block will oscillate about the mean position given by x = mg/K.
Now the question arises is why the block will undergo oscillations. In this
lecture we will explain only by intuition and in lecture series of control system
we will explain mathematically as well.
Explanation :The block is suddenly attached to the vertical spring system. As gravitational force is acting on the mass, for block to be in
mechanical equilibrium spring force
must be equal to gravitational force
and Since, spring force is proportional to elongation(x) in the spring,
spring starts to elongate and reaches
a position such that elongation is
x = mg/k.This position where gravitational force is equal to spring force
is called mean position.
Now gravitational force is equal
to spring force and we expect the
block to remain steady at this position due to force balance. But
surprisingly the block does not stop
here. As the block was acted upon
by gravitational force and while
reaching this mean position it has
gained certain velocity or kinetic energy. To stop the block or to change
the velocity there must be some force
applied on it else the block will move
with this velocity(According to Newtons first Law). The spring further elongates, due to kinetic energy in the block, and reaches a maximum elongation
at which velocity is zero.
But at this position, the block is not in mechanical equilibrium as the
spring has already extra elongated from mean position to extreme position
and spring force is greater than gravitational force at this position. Now the
2

block starts accelerating upward and starts gaining velocity. Again the block
reaches mean position where it is in mechanical equilibrium but its velocity is
not zero at this position and the block further moves upward(due to kinetic
energy stored in it).
This oscillation continues to happen and we expect that the block will
never stop. Ideally block will continue to oscillate forever but practically it
will stop at the mean position.

1)
2)
3)
4)

Now again many doubts and questions arises :Why does the block stops ?
If it stops then how quickly it will stop ?
How can we control this stopping time ?
Is there any way to stop the block at the mean position at the very first
instant of crossing of block through the mean position ?

Well!! To answer these questions we need to understand dampers which

causes damping in the oscillation. In simple words we can say damper is energy dissipating element in the system. Here in this example frictional force
between air and block will cause the oscillations to die out (or damp out). In
motor-bikes suspensions we use damper oil to damp out oscillations. In analog measuring instruments we use different damping methods like air-friction
damping,eddy-current damping,fluid friction damping etc. Practically this
damper and damping is very important consideration in system design.
Now we will try to answer how this damper damps out oscillations : Approach 1 In this approach we will explain using conservation of energy.
Consider mean position as reference for potential energy calculations.
When block was initially placed at upper extreme position then its
potential energy was given by P.E. = mgA and finally the block has
reached and settled at mean position where its P.E. = 0. K.E. = 0 in
both the cases. Now at mean position energy in the system is less than
that at upper extreme position. i.e. to bring to block in equilibrium
at the mean position we have to decrease the energy in the system and
we need some energy dissipating element( damper) to stop the block
at equilibrium position or to bring the block in steady state position.
Approach 2 In this approach we will explain by observing the motion of
block in every cycle of oscillation and see the effect of friction(damping)
3

on the motion of the block. The damping due to viscosity of air is

viscous damping in which viscous force is proportional to velocity of
block. For explanation we,ll consider frictional damping not viscous
damping where frictional force is constant and acts in the direction
opposite to the motion of the block.
Due to frictional force the block slows down in every cycle and finally
comes to steady state at mean position(Position where frictional force
is equal to gravitational force). Now if we increase the frictional force
we observe that block will slow down more and more rapidly and settles
at steady state position. This type of oscillatory motion where block
oscillates about mean position and finally settles at mean position is
known as underdamped oscillations and more we increase the frictional
coefficient more is the damping and block settles more rapidly.
If there were no frictional force then block would have remained oscillating forever. This continued oscillation is known as undamped
oscillation.
There are other common cases like critically damped, overdamped
which will be discussed in control system lecture series with mathematical explanations as well.

1.2

Electrical system
f (x) =

Z 1

g(x, y)dy.

(Remember to put any punctuation marks inside the double-dollars.

Otherwise it will appear on a separate line.)
Or we can use the equation environment. LATEX environments are
opened with a begin command and
closed with an end command:
f (x) =

Z
0

g(x, y)dy.
2

(1)
4

x9 x10 , but 610 > 69 .