1

Lecture- 5
Time Domain Analysis of 1st Order
Systems

2
 Introduction
• In time-domain analysis the response of a dynamic system
to an input is expressed as a function of time.
• It is possible to compute the time response of a system if the
nature of input and the mathematical model of the system
are known.
• Usually, the input signals to control systems are not known
fully ahead of time.
• For example, in a radar tracking system, the position and the
speed of the target to be tracked may vary in a random
fashion.

• It is therefore difficult to express the actual input signals

mathematically by simple equations.
 Standard Test Signals
• The characteristics of actual input signals are a
sudden shock, a sudden change, a constant
velocity, and constant acceleration.

• The dynamic behavior of a system is therefore

judged and compared under application of
standard test signals – an impulse, a step, a
constant velocity, and constant acceleration.

• Another standard signal of great importance is a

sinusoidal signal.
 Standard Test Signals
• Impulse signal
– The impulse signal imitate the
sudden shock characteristic of
actual input signal. δ(t)

A
A t0
 (t )  
0 t0
0 t

– If A=1, the impulse signal is

called unit impulse signal.
 Standard Test Signals
• Step signal
– The step signal imitate
the sudden change u(t)

characteristic of actual
A
input signal.

A t0 t
u( t )   0
0 t0

– If A=1, the step signal is

called unit step signal
 Standard Test Signals
• Ramp signal r(t)

– The ramp signal imitate

the constant velocity
characteristic of actual
input signal.
0 t

 At t0
r (t )  
r(t)

0 t0
ramp signal with slope A

– If A=1, the ramp signal r(t)

is called unit ramp
signal unit ramp signal
 Standard Test Signals
p(t)
• Parabolic signal
– The parabolic signal
imitate the constant
acceleration characteristic
of actual input signal. 0 t

 At 2 p(t)

 t0
p(t )   2
0 t0
parabolic signal with slope A
 p(t)

– If A=1, the parabolic

signal is called unit
parabolic signal. Unit parabolic signal
 Relation between standard Test Signals
A t0
• Impulse  (t )  
0 t0
d
 dt
A t0
• Step u( t )  
0 t0 d
 dt
 At t0
• Ramp r (t )  
t0
0 d
  At 2
dt
 t0
• Parabolic p(t )   2
0 t0

 Laplace Transform of Test Signals

• Impulse
A t0
 (t )  
0 t0

L{ (t )}   ( s )  A

• Step
A t0
u( t )  
0 t0

A
L{u(t )}  U ( s ) 
S
 Laplace Transform of Test Signals

• Ramp  At t0
r (t )  
0 t0

A
L{ r(t )}  R( s ) 
s2
• Parabolic  At 2
 t0
p(t )   2
0 t0

2A
L{ p(t )}  P( s ) 
S3
 Time Response of Control Systems
• Time response of a dynamic system response to an input
expressed as a function of time.

System

• The time response of any system has two components

• Transient response
• Steady-state response.
 Time Response of Control Systems
• When the response of the system is changed form rest or
equilibrium it takes some time to settle down.

• Transient response is the response of a system from rest or

equilibrium to steady state.
-3
x 10 Step Response
6

Step Input
5
• The response of the

Steady State Response

system after the transient 4
Response
Amplitude

response is called steady 3

state response. 2 Transient Response

1

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (sec)
 Time Response of Control Systems
• Transient response depend upon the system poles only and not
on the type of input.

• It is therefore sufficient to analyze the transient response using a

step input.

• The steady-state response depends on system dynamics and the

input quantity.

• It is then examined using different test signals by final value

theorem.
 Introduction
• The first order system has only one pole.
C( s ) K

R( s ) Ts  1
• Where K is the D.C gain and T is the time constant
of the system.

• Time constant is a measure of how quickly a 1st

order system responds to a unit step input.

• D.C Gain of the system is ratio between the input

signal and the steady state value of output.
 Introduction
• The first order system given below.
10
G( s ) 
3s  1
• D.C gain is 10 and time constant is 3 seconds.

• And for following system

3 3/ 5
G( s )  
s  5 1 / 5s  1

• D.C Gain of the system is 3/5 and time constant is 1/5

seconds.
 Impulse Response of 1st Order System
• Consider the following 1st order system
δ(t)

K
R(s ) C (s )
1

Ts  1
t
0

R( s )   ( s )  1

K
C( s ) 
Ts  1
 Impulse Response of 1st Order System
K
C( s ) 
Ts  1
• Re-arrange following equation as

K /T
C( s ) 
s  1/ T

• In order represent the response of the system in time domain

we need to compute inverse Laplace transform of the above
equation.
1 
C  K t / T
L    Ce  at c(t )  e
sa T
 Impulse Response of 1st Order System
K t / T
• If K=3 and T=2s then c(t )  e
T
K/T*exp(-t/T)
1.5

1
c(t)

0.5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time
 Step Response of 1st Order System
• Consider the following 1st order system

K
R(s ) C (s )
Ts  1

1
R( s )  U ( s ) 
s
K
C( s ) 
sTs  1
• In order to find out the inverse Laplace of the above equation, we
need to break it into partial fraction expansion
Forced Response Natural Response
K KT
C( s )  
s Ts  1
 Step Response of 1st Order System
1 T 
C( s )  K   
 s Ts  1 
• Taking Inverse Laplace of above equation


c(t )  K u(t )  e t / T 
 
• Where u(t)=1
c(t )  K 1  e t / T
• When t=T

 
c(t )  K 1  e 1  0.632 K
 Step Response of 1st Order System
• If K=10 and T=1.5s then 
c(t )  K 1  e t / T 
K*(1-exp(-t/T))
11

10

9 Step Response

8
steady state output 10
7 D.C Gain  K  
Input 1
6
63%
c(t)

2
Unit Step Input
1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time
 Step Response of 1st Order System
• If K=10 and T=1, 3, 5, 7 
c(t )  K 1  e t / T 
K*(1-exp(-t/T))
11
10
T=1s
9

8 T=3s
7
T=5s
6
c(t)

5 T=7s

4
3
2
1
0
0 5 10 15
Time
 Step Response of 1st order System
• System takes five time constants to reach its
final value.
 Step Response of 1st Order System
• If K=1, 3, 5, 10 and T=1 
c(t )  K 1  e t / T 
K*(1-exp(-t/T))
11
10
K=10
9

8
7
6
K=5
c(t)

5
4
K=3
3
2
K=1
1
0
0 5 10 15
Time
 Relation Between Step and impulse
response
• The step response of the first order system is

 
c(t )  K 1  e t / T  K  Ke t / T

• Differentiating c(t) with respect to t yields

dc(t ) d
dt

dt

K  Ke t / T 
dc(t ) K t / T
 e
dt T
 Example
• Impulse response of a 1st order system is given below.

c(t )  3e 0.5t

• Find out
– Time constant T
– D.C Gain K
– Transfer Function
– Step Response
 Example
• The Laplace Transform of Impulse response of a
system is actually the transfer function of the system.
• Therefore taking Laplace Transform of the impulse
response given by following equation.
c(t )  3e 0.5t
3 3
C( s )  1    (s)
S  0.5 S  0.5
C( s ) C( s ) 3
 
 ( s ) R( s ) S  0.5
C( s ) 6

R( s ) 2S  1
 Example
• Impulse response of a 1st order system is given below.

c(t )  3e 0.5t

• Find out
– Time constant T=2
– D.C Gain K=6
– Transfer Function C( s )  6
R( s ) 2S  1
– Step Response
– Also Draw the Step response on your notebook
 Example
• For step response integrate impulse response

c(t )  3e 0.5t

0.5t
 c( t )dt  3 e dt

cs (t )  6e 0.5t  C

• We can find out C if initial condition is known e.g. cs(0)=0

0  6e 0.50  C
C6
cs (t )  6  6e 0.5t
 Example
• If initial Conditions are not known then partial fraction
expansion is a better choice
C( s ) 6

R( s ) 2S  1
1
since R( s ) is a step input, R( s ) 
s
6
C( s ) 
s2S  1
6 A B
 
s2S  1 s 2s  1

6 6 6
 
s2S  1 s s  0.5

c(t )  6  6e 0.5t
 Ramp Response of 1st Order System
• Consider the following 1st order system

K
R(s ) C (s )
Ts  1

1
R( s ) 
s2
K
C( s ) 
s 2 Ts  1
• The ramp response is given as


c(t )  K t  T  Tet / T 
 Ramp Response of 1st Order System
• If K=1 and T=1

c(t )  K t  T  Tet / T 
Unit Ramp Response

10
Unit Ramp
Ramp Response
8

6
c(t)

4
error

0
0 5 10 15
Time
 Ramp Response of 1st Order System
• If K=1 and T=3

c(t )  K t  T  Tet / T 
Unit Ramp Response

10 Unit Ramp
Ramp Response
8

6
c(t)

2 error

0
0 5 10 15
Time