To draw a Bode diagram

for a transfer function there are three steps:

1. Rewrite the transfer function in proper form.

2. Separate the transfer function into its constituent parts.
3. Draw the Bode diagram for each part.
4. Draw the overall Bode diagram by adding up the results from
part 3.

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 1. Rewrite the transfer function in proper form.

A transfer function is normally of the form:

Example:

we would like to rewrite this so the lowest order term

in the numerator and denominator are both unity.
2. Separate the transfer function into its constituent parts.
The next step is to split up the function into its constituent
parts. There are seven types of parts:

1. A constant
2. Poles at the origin
3. Zeros at the origin
4. Real Poles
5. Real Zeros
6. Complex conjugate poles
7. Complex conjugate zeros
This function has

• a constant of 2,

• a zero at s=-10, and

• poles at s=-3 and s=-50.

3. Draw the Bode diagram for each part
T erm M a g n itu d e P h ase
K  0 :
C o n sta n t: K 2 0  lo g 10 K  K  0 :
0
 180 

 L o w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 o
R e a l P o le : 1  L o w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 d B  H ig h fre q . a s y m p to te a t –
s  H ig h fre q . a s y m p to te a t -2 0 d B /d e c 90o
 1
 0  C o n n e c t lin e s a t b re a k fre q .  C o n n e c t w ith s tra ig h t lin e
f r o m 0 .1 · 0 t o 1 0 · 0
 L o w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 o
 L o w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 d B  H ig h fre q . a s y m p to te a t
R ea l Z ero *: s  1  H ig h fre q . a s y m p to te a t + 2 0 d B /d e c . +90o
 0 C o n n e c t w ith lin e fro m
 C o n n e c t lin e s a t b re a k fre q 
0 .1 · 0 t o 1 0 · 0
P o le a t O r ig in : 1 -2 0 d B /d e c ; th ro u g h 0 d B a t  = 1 90 
s
Z e r o a t O r ig in *: s + 2 0 d B /d e c ; th ro u g h 0 d B a t  = 1 90 

 L o w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 o
U n d e r d a m p e d P o le s :  L o w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 d B  H ig h fre q . a s y m p to te a t -
 H ig h fre q . a s y m p to te a t -4 0 d B /d e c . 180o
 D ra w p e a k † a t fre q .  r   0 1  2  2  C o n n e c t w ith s tra ig h t lin e
1 w ith a m p litu d e fro m ‡

2  
 s 
2
 s   2 
   2    1
 H j  r   2 0  lo g 10 1   2 lo g 10   
  to    2
  0    0   C o n n e c t lin e s
   0
2
0
 2 
lo g 10   
 
 D ra w lo w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 d B  L o w fre q . a s y m p to te a t 0 o
 D ra w h ig h fre q . a s y m p to te a t + 4 0  D ra w h ig h fre q . a s y m p to te
U n d erd a m p ed Z ero s*: dB /d e c. a t -1 8 0 o
 D ra w d ip † a t fre q .    0 w ith  C o n n e c t w ith a s tra ig h t
2
r
1  2 2 lin e fro m ‡
 s   s   2 
   2    1 a m p litu d e lo g   
   0 
10


2
2 
 0       to   
H j  r   2 0  lo g 10 1   2 0
2
0
 2 
lo g 10   
 C o n n e c t lin e s  

N o te s:
* R u le s fo r d ra w in g z e ro s c re a te th e m irro r im a g e (a ro u n d 0 d B ) o f th o s e fo r a p o le w ith th e s a m e b re a k fre q
† F o r u n d e r d a m p e d p o le s a n d z e r o s p e a k e x is ts f o r 0    0 .7 0 7  1 a n d p e a k f r e q . is ty p ic a lly v e r y n e a r th e b r e a k f r e q
2
‡ F o r u n d e r d a m p e d p o le s a n d z e r o s I f  < 0 .0 2 d r a w p h a s e v e r tic a lly fr o m 0 to -1 8 0 d e g r e e s a t b r e a k fr e q
F o r n th o r d e r p o l e o r z e r o m a k e a s y m p t o t e s a n d p e a k s n t i m e s h i g h e r t h a n s h o w n ( i . e . , s e c o n d o r d e r a s y m p t o t e i s - 4 0
d B /d e c , a n d p h a s e g o e s fro m 0 to – 1 8 0 o). D o n ’t c h a n g e fre q u e n c ie s , o n ly p lo t v a lu e s a n d s lo p e s .
 4. Draw the overall Bode diagram by adding up the results
from part 3.

After the individual terms are drawn, it is a simple matter to

add them together.