01 March, 2007

Inductor Transient Response

Inductors have the exact opposite characteristics of capacitors. Whereas capacitors store energy in an electric field (produced by the voltage between two plates), inductors store energy in a magnetic field (produced by the current through wire). Thus, while the stored energy in a capacitor tries to maintain a constant voltage across its terminals, the stored energy in an inductor tries to maintain a constant current through its windings. Because of this, inductors oppose changes in current, and act precisely the opposite of capacitors, which oppose changes in voltage. A fully discharged inductor (no magnetic field), having zero current through it, will initially act as an open-circuit when attached to a source of voltage (as it tries to maintain zero current), dropping maximum voltage across its leads. Over time, the inductor's current rises to the maximum value allowed by the circuit, and the terminal voltage decreases correspondingly. Once the inductor's terminal voltage has decreased to a minimum (zero for a "perfect" inductor), the current will stay at a maximum level, and it will behave essentially as a short-circuit.

When a battery is connected to a series resistor and inductor, the inductor resists the change in current and the current therefore builds up slowly. Acting in accordance with Faraday's law and Lenz's law, the amount of impedance to the buildup of current is proportional to the rate of change of the current. That is, the faster you try to make it change, the more it resists. The current builds up toward the value it would have with the resistor alone because once the current is no longer changing, the inductor offers no impedance. The rate of this buildup is often characterized by the time constant L/R . Establishing a current in an inductor stores energy in the magnetic field formed by the coils of the inductor.

Example :

When the switch is first closed, the voltage across the inductor will immediately jump to battery voltage (acting as though it were an open-circuit) and decay down to zero over time (eventually acting as though it were a short-circuit). Voltage across the inductor is determined by calculating how much voltage is being dropped across R, given the current through the inductor, and subtracting that voltage value from the battery to see what's left. When the switch is first closed, the current is zero, then it increases over time until it is equal to the battery voltage divided by the series resistance of 1 Ω. This behavior is precisely opposite that of the series resistor-capacitor circuit, where current started at a maximum and capacitor voltage at zero. Let's see how this works using real values:

Just as with the RC circuit, the inductor voltage's approach to 0 volts and the current's approach to 15 amps over time is asymptotic. For all practical purposes, though, we can say that the inductor voltage will eventually reach 0 volts and that the current will eventually equal the maximum of 15 amps.

Equations for RL Circuits :

Time constant = TC = L/R

For more details of this topic visit the below sites :

No comments: