Standing waves on a transmission line and time

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of standing waves on transmission lines, specifically addressing the relationship between standing wave patterns, time dependence, and the implications of voltage representation in phasor notation. Participants explore the nature of standing waves versus traveling waves, as well as the implications of standing wave ratios (SWR).

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about the representation of standing waves as a function of time and frequency, questioning why the voltage is not explicitly shown as time-dependent in their textbook.
  • Another participant asserts that standing waves are not traveling waves by definition, but acknowledges that voltage at a point does change with time and is frequency-dependent.
  • A different participant describes standing waves as being formed by the superposition of incident and reflected waves, emphasizing that the voltage traveling forward and reflecting back creates the standing wave pattern.
  • One participant mentions that while phasors do not include time information, they are understood to be part of a function where time is ignored for simplification.
  • Another participant notes that the standing wave pattern indicates maxima, while the levels between these maxima are indeed time-dependent.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that standing waves are not traveling waves and that voltage at specific points changes with time. However, there is disagreement regarding the representation of time dependence in the context of standing waves and how this relates to phasor notation.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight the limitations of their textbook's explanation, noting that it may not adequately convey the time-domain behavior of standing waves. There is also mention of the need for further exploration of how incident and reflected waves combine to create standing waves.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for students and professionals studying transmission lines, wave mechanics, and those interested in the mathematical representation of wave phenomena in electrical engineering.

FrankJ777
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Hi, I'm hoping somebody can help me understand something. I'm studying transmission lines and I'm confused about SWR and standing waves on a transmission line. According to my book the voltage on the transmision line is the super position of an incident and reflected voltage wave given by:
V_{(z)} = V^{+}_{0} ( e^{-jBz} + \Gamma e^{jBz})

I can see how this produces a standing wave with voltage minimums and maximums at fixed points every λ/2. What I'm confused about is why the voltage is not represented as a function of time. From what I thought I understood about the phasor representation of the voltage we dropped the factor e^{jωt} in our notation, but that it's understood that it's still there and the wave is still a funtion of time and frequency (jωt). So my questions are these. Are standing waves also a function of time and frequency, and if so would they be traveling waves? It seems that according to my text the min and max points are at fixed distances, so it seems that the voltage wave doesn't travel. So what happened to time and frequency?

Thanks to anyone who can set me straight.
 
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Standing wave is not time dependent, like a guitar string that the fundamental has the peak in the middle. If you go through the the wave traveling on the a transmission from the source at one end and termination on the other end. If the source and termination is not match, you will develop a standing wave pattern. It is the voltage traveling forward and reflect back that cause the standing wave pattern. If you solve the equation you posted with z, you'll see the standing wave pattern.

SWR only tells you the Vmax/Vmin or something like that, it does not tell you what standing wave pattern looks like, but from a standing wave pattern, you can find the SWR by just measuring it.

For a cosine wave,

\cos (\omega t-\beta z) = Re[e^{j(\omega t-\beta z)}]\;=\; Re[e^{j\omega t}e^{-\beta z}]\;=\;Re [ e^{\omega t}\tilde A ]

Phazor is defined as \tilde A = e^{-\beta z}

Phasor do not have time information, but it is understood that phasor is ONLY part of the function with time function ignored for simplification.
 
Thanks guys.
I found this video and it seems to to describe it pretty well visually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=s5MBno0PZjE

I think what confused me is that it in my textbook (Pozar), it shows that the standing wave is the supper position of the incident and reflected wave,and it describes the reflected waves as phasors with a dependence on z only. I didn't see how in the time domain the incident and reflected wave would make standing wave, but in the video it shows exactly that.
 
The standing wave pattern just shows the maxima. The levels between these +and- maxima are time dependent.
 

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