Transient response

In electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, a transient response is the response of a system to a change from an equilibrium or a steady state. The transient response is not necessarily tied to abrupt events but to any event that affects the equilibrium of the system. The impulse response and step response are transient responses to a specific input (an impulse and a step, respectively). In electrical engineering specifically, the transient response is the circuit’s temporary response that will die out with time. It is followed by the steady state response, which is the behavior of the circuit a long time after an external excitation is applied. The response can be classified as one of three types of damping that describes the output in relation to the steady-state response. Underdamped An underdamped response is one that oscillates within a decaying envelope. The more underdamped the system, the more oscillations and longer it takes to reach steady-state. Here damping ratio is always less than one. Critically damped A critically damped response is the response that reaches the steady-state value the fastest without being underdamped. It is related to critical points in the sense that it straddles the boundary of underdamped and overdamped responses. Here, the damping ratio is always equal to one. There should be no oscillation about the steady-state value in the ideal case. Overdamped An overdamped response is the response that does not oscillate about the steady-state value but takes longer to reach steady-state than the critically damped case. Here damping ratio is greater than one. Transient response can be quantified with the following properties. Rise time Rise time refers to the time required for a signal to change from a specified low value to a specified high value. Typically, these values are 10% and 90% of the step height. Overshoot Overshoot is when a signal or function exceeds its target. It is often associated with ringing.