Bode Plot Drawing Using Engineering Software
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Dirman Hanafi
Reference must read
1. Modern Control Engineering-K. Ogata : page 398
2. Modern Control System- Richard C. Dorf: page 578
A Constant Term
Consider a constant term: H(s)=H(jω)=KH(s)=H(jω)=K
Magnitude
Clearly the magnitude is constant as ω varies. |H(jω)|=|K||H(jω)|=|K|
Phase
The phase is also constant. If K is positive, the phase is 0° (or any even multiple of 180°, i.e., ±360°). If K is
negative the phase is -180°, or any odd multiple of 180°. Expressed in radians we can say that if K is positive
the phase is 0 radians, if K is negative the phase is -π radians.
A piecewise linear approximation is not as easy in this case because the high and low frequency asymptotes don't
intersect. Instead we use a rule that follows the exact function fairly closely, but is also somewhat arbitrary. Its main advantage
is that it is easy to remember.
Phase of a real pole: The piecewise linear asymptotic Bode plot for phase follows the low frequency asymptote at 0° until one
tenth the break frequency (0.1·ω0) then decrease linearly to meet the high frequency asymptote at ten times the break
frequency (10·ω0). This line is shown above. Note that there is no error at the break frequency and about 5.7° of error
at 0.1·ω0 and 10·ω0 the break frequency.
Example 1.
H(s)= 3/(s+3)
Matlab code:
mySys=tf([3],[1 3])
bode(mySys), grid
The result is as right
Example 2.
H(s)=100/(s^2+[Link].s+100) “Zeta is damping ration”
For Zeta = 0.1.
mySys=tf([0 100],[1 0.2 100])
bode(mySys), grid
Magnitude
The magnitude is given by
Let's consider three cases for the value of the frequency:
The high frequency approximation is at shown in green on the diagram below. It is a straight line with a slope of -40 dB/decade
going through the break frequency at 0 dB. That is, for every factor of 10 increase in frequency, the magnitude drops by 40 dB.
Case 3) ω≈ω0. It can be shown that a peak occurs in the magnitude plot near the break frequency. The derivation of the
approximate amplitude and location of the peak are given here. We make the approximation that a peak exists only when
0<ζ<0.5
and that the peak occurs at ω0 with height 1/(2·ζ).
To draw a piecewise linear approximation, use the low frequency asymptote up to the break frequency, and the high frequency
asymptote thereafter. If ζ<0.5, then draw a peak of amplitude 1/(2·ζ) Draw a smooth curve between the low and high frequency
asymptote that goes through the peak value.
As an example for the curve shown below ω0=10, ζ=0.1,
The peak will have an amplitude of 1/(2·ζ)=5.00 or 14 dB.
The resulting asymptotic approximation is shown as a black dotted line, the exact response is a black solid line.
Magnitude of Underdamped (Complex) poles: Draw a 0 dB at low frequencies until the break frequency, ω0, and then drops with a slope of -40
dB/decade. If ζ<0.5 we draw a peak of height at ω0, otherwise no peak is drawn.
|H(jω0)|≈12ζ,|H(jω0)|dB≈−20⋅log10(2ζ)
Phase
The phase of a complex conjugate pole is given by is given by
Let us again consider three cases for the value of the frequency:
Case 1) ω<<ω0. This is the low frequency case. At these frequencies We can write an approximation for
the phase of the transfer function
A piecewise linear approximation is a bit more complicated in this case, and there are no hard and fast rules
for drawing it. The most common way is to look up a graph in a textbook with a chart that shows phase plots
for many values of ζ. Three asymptotic approximations are given here. We will use the approximation that
connects the the low frequency asymptote to the high frequency asymptote starting at
and ending at
Since ζ=0.2 in this case this means that the phase starts at 0° and then breaks downward at ω=ω0/10ζ=7.9
rad/sec. The phase reaches -180° at ω=ω0·10ζ=12.6 rad/sec.
As a practical matter If ζ<0.02, the approximation can be simply a vertical line at the break frequency. One
advantage of this approximation is that it is very easy to plot on semilog paper. Since the number
10·ω0 moves up by a full decade from ω0, the number 10ζ·ω0 will be a fraction ζ of a decade above ω0. For
the example above the corner frequencies for ζ=0.1 fall near ω0 one tenth of the way between ω0 and ω0/10
(at the lower break frequency) to one tenth of the way between ω0 and ω0·10 (at the higher frequency).
The table below summarizes what to do for each type of term in a Bode Plot. The table assumes ω0>0. If ω0<0, magnitude is unchanged, but phase is reversed .