# Drawing bode plot

1. Jan 22, 2013

### Femme_physics

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data

Given this function in an open loop control system

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3686/700qa.jpg [Broken]

Draw a bode plot of the transfer function: The upper graph will present the lines for each of the amplification factors for each of the system components, the lower graph will sum them all.

2. Relevant equations

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/693/400al.jpg [Broken]

3. The attempt at a solution

I haven't drawn the second graph they asked for (that sums all the components) , only the first...what do you think?

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/1471/7001w.jpg [Broken]

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2880/ithink.jpg [Broken]

Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2017
2. Jan 22, 2013

### I like Serena

3. Jan 22, 2013

### Femme_physics

Well, sadly I can't use Mr. WolframAlpha-solve-everything in the test, just a basic scientific calculator... :( Regardless, the answer doesn't help me see how I get there... *scratches head*

Do you see how I got to the characteristic formula?

So I end up with one component that is

1/0.25S^2

And another compnent that is

5/4S

If you look at the formulas I posted, I just took the figure associated with each S component
and started drawing from there. Isn't that what those numbers indicate?

4. Jan 22, 2013

### rude man

There are no upward-sloping asymptotes in your final diagram, just flat one(s) and downward-sloping ones.

To get an upward-sloping one you would need an (s+a) term in the numerator. All you have in the numerator is a constant.

5. Jan 22, 2013

### I like Serena

Hmm, you can't use mr. Wolfram-solve-everything can you?
What a bummer!
Ah well, it's a good reason to learn some more math!
Do you know the rules how to deal with $\log$?

Basically, you get 3 straight lines.
These lines are given by:

$$[1]\quad dB = 20 \log 100 = 40$$
$$[2]\quad dB = 20 \log({100 \over \frac 5 4 s}) = 20 \log({80 \over s}) = 20 \log 80 - 20 \log s$$
$$[3]\quad?$$

Can you tell what the third line is?

You are supposed to put this in a log-log graph, that has the $dB$ on the vertical axis and $\log s$ on the horizontal axis.
The first line is a horizontal line that intersects the y-axis at 40 dB.
The second line is a line that slopes down; it intersects the y-axis at $20 \log 80$, and it has a (downward) slope of $-20$.

Can you draw those lines, including the third?

6. Jan 23, 2013

### Femme_physics

Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2017
7. Jan 23, 2013

### I like Serena

Good!
You have the right formula for the 3rd line!

Even better for the 3rd line is: $dB = 20 \log 400 - 40 \log s$
That way you can see that the downward slope is $-40$.

The first and second question mark should be zero.
That is, the second line should go down starting from the interection with the y-axis.
The same for the third line.

Furthermore the 3rd line should go down twice as steep as the 2nd line.

The actual Bode plot is:
along the 1st line until it intersects the 2nd line (this is actually left of the y-axis).
along the 2nd line until it intersects the 3rd line.
along the 3rd line until you go off the paper.

Now you should be able to calculate the 3rd and 4th question mark...

Next post I'll include a reference to a Wolfram plot to show you what I mean... (unless of course you already got it . ;p)

8. Jan 23, 2013

### Femme_physics

I don't see how... do I just approximate based on the graph? In that case, how do I know the angle of 20 db/dec and 40 db/dec of how I draw the lines exactly?

9. Jan 23, 2013

### Staff: Mentor

Your original formulation for the transfer function gives you everything you need to know

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3686/700qa.jpg [Broken]

If you take the limit as s goes to zero you'll get the gain when frequency goes to zero. Convert to db. That's where your plot starts for very low frequencies, and begins as a straight horizontal line (sketch one in lightly on your plot).

The two terms in the denominator tell you that there will be a couple of -20 db/decade slopes to add in. Further, the numerical constants 1 and 4 tell you what the corner frequencies are (essentially where the new slopes will begin). These frequencies are natural frequencies: radians per second.

You can determine what a slope of -20 db/dec looks like by placing a straightedge on your graph paper so that it spans a frequency range of a decade and drops 20 db over that span.

These slopes are additive, so as you add terms starting at their corner frequencies, you 'bend" the plot line so that it achieves the required total slope.

Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2017
10. Jan 23, 2013

### Femme_physics

But that's exactly the problem - we haven't studied how to take the limit as S goes to zero--we only studied to solve bode plot through laplace plane... although I don't recall a question that asks drawing every component separately yet

11. Jan 23, 2013

### I like Serena

12. Jan 23, 2013

### Femme_physics

Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2017
13. Jan 23, 2013

### Femme_physics

What the fajebus! My manual's answer is different than yours!

EDIT: could we have picked up on a mistake?

14. Jan 23, 2013

### Staff: Mentor

I imagine that you've done limits before. For the present case the limit is trivial; just set s to zero. What's the result?

Sketching an approximation of the bode magnitude plot for a given transfer function is a matter of identifying the "corner frequencies" where slope changes (where a new term of the function starts to manifest its effect) and approximating that effect by a change in slope for the line.

15. Jan 23, 2013

### I like Serena

I do not understand the top diagram. It seems to show something different.
Perhaps it belongs to a different problem?
Or it is an example of something?

The second diagram looks like mine.
The slopes of the lines are the same.
And the locations of the connections are almost the same.

Note that 0 on the x-axis in my diagram corresponds to $10^0$ in yours.
And 1 corresponds to $10^1$ in yours.
Furtermore my x-axis is at a different dB level. Mine is at dB=0.

Can't explain the slight difference yet, though.

16. Jan 23, 2013

### I like Serena

17. Jan 23, 2013

### I like Serena

It looks to me as if in your plot the 2nd line is slightly off.
The 2nd line intersects the y-axis at 40 dB, while it should be slightly lower (at 20 log 80).
That would explain the slight differences.
They made an approximation for the 2nd line.

18. Jan 23, 2013

### I like Serena

fajebus?

19. Jan 23, 2013

### Femme_physics

I'll go with your logic, ILS, the manual doesn't make any sense to me! How do you exactly decide where they cross the X axis, is the one thing I haven't quite gotten yet.

We really haven't done limits! I'd have remembered that.
Settings S -> 0 for the original Gs I get

Gs = 400 / 4 = 100

I'm still not sure what angle do I give -20 db/dec and -40 db/dec

I'll have to figure it out tomorrow, bedtime here. Be back in the morning. Thank you :)

20. Jan 23, 2013

### I like Serena

You have the equations (I have calculated the values and replaced "log s" by dec):
$$[1]\quad dB = 40$$
$$[2]\quad dB = 38 - 20 \cdot dec$$
$$[3]\quad dB = 52 - 40 \cdot dec$$

The find the point where they cross the X axis, fill in dB=0 and solve for dec.

A slope of -20 dB/dec means that the line goes down 20 dB if the dec increases by 1 point.

To make drawing them easier, you should draw for instance the 2nd line from $(0,38)$ to $(\frac {38} {20},0)$.
If you do that, you will have the right slope.

And err... what is fajebus?