Electronic – Q of RLC network

resonance

I've looked at other posts on RLC circuits at resonance, but I have a slightly different question (please forgive me if this has been answered and I missed the post).

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

To find the resonant frequency of this circuit, I solve for the transfer function vo(s)/vin(s) (in Laplace domain) and since impedance is real (purely resistive) at resonance, I equate the imaginary terms (substituting j*omega for s) to 0 and solve for w (omega).
xfer_function

My problem arises when I try to determine the Q of this circuit. I solve for Z as seen from vin to vo (ie, R1 + the parallel combination of (1/(s C1) and the series combination of L1+R4+1/(s C2), in Laplace), and then solve for Q by taking the ratio of the reactance to the resistance at resonance. However, I get "0" , which makes sense, I guess, since I solved for the resonant frequency earlier by equating the imaginary part of the transfer function to 0.

Zin is :

Zin equation

I'm stumped — How can I determine the Q of this network?

Best Answer

To calculate the Q, it is much easier to substitute numbers for the values of the components. Then use the Dominant Pole Approximation to find the Q. This works by separating the third order equation (which you have correctly solved) into a product of a first order system and a second order system. This separation process is hard if there are symbols for the polynomial coefficients.

The reason this is hard is that there are many different regions of the solution space, each with different circuit behavior and approximations for Q. Some of these symbolic solutions include terms that would be very small in a real-world circuit. These equation terms can be eliminated if the approximate magnitudes of the component values are known. Once enough of these simplifications have been made, the equations simplify, and the solution is typically dominated by the first order system or the second order system. If the solution is dominated by a second order system, Q can be found from that.

The more general definition of Q is that it is proportional to the ratio of energy stored in the resonator from one cycle to the next. This definition is useful for other resonators such as transmission lines. It also allows the use of time-domain calculations or simulations. There is controversy about the strict definition of Q.

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