Civil Service Exam Syllabus for IAS Preliminary Exam – Electrical Engineering

Civil Service Exam Syllabus (Preliminary) – Electrical Engineering

Electrical Circuits – Theory and Applications :

Circuit components, network graphs, KCL, KVL.

Circuit analysis methods : Nodal analysis, mesh analysis; basic network theorems and applications.

Transient analysis : RL, RC and RLC circuits; sinusoidal steady state analysis; resonant circuits ; coupled circuits ; balanced 3-phase circuits. Two port networks,

Signals & Systems :

Representation of continuous-time and discrete-time signals & system’s ; LTI systems; convolution; impulse response; time-domain analysis of LTI systems based on convolution and differential / difference equations. Fourier transform, Laplace transform, Z-transform, Transfer function. Sampling and recovery of signals.DFT, FFT Processing of analog signals through discrete-time systems.

Control Systems :

Elements of control systems; block-diagram representations; open-loop & closed-loop systems; principles and applications of feed-back.Control system components.Control system components.

LTI systems : Time domain and transform domain analysis.

Stability : Routh Hurwitz criterion, root-loci, Nyquist’s criterion. Bode-plots, Design of lead-lag compensators; Proportional, PI, PID controllers.

E.M. Theory :

Maxwell’s equations, wave propagation in bounded media. Boundary conditions,reflection and refraction of plane waves.Transmission line: travelling and standing waves, impedance matching, Smith chart.

Electrical Engineering Materials :

Analog Electronics :

Diode circuits : rectifiers filters, clipping and clamping, zener diode and voltage regulation. Bipolar and field effect transistors (BJT, JFET and MOSFET) : Characteristics, biasing and small signal equivalent circuits. Basic amplifier circuits; differential amplifier circuits.

Amplifiers : Analysis, frequency response. Principles of feedback; OPAMP circuits; filters; oscillators.

Digital Electronics :

Boolean algebra; minimisation of Boolean function; logic gates, digital IC families (DTL, TTL, ECL, MOS, CMOS).

Combinational Circuits : Arithmetic circuits, code converters, multiplexers and decoder’s.

Sequential Circuits : latches and flip-flops, counters and shift-registers. Comparators, timers, multivibrators. Sample and hold circuits; ADCs and DACs. Semiconductor memories.Logic implementation using programmable devices (ROM, PLA, FPGA).

6. Energy Conversion:

Principles of electromechanical energy conversion : Torque and emf in rotating machines. DC machines : characteristics and performance analysis; starting and speed control of motors; Transformers : principles of operation and analysis;regulation, efficiency; 3-phase transformers. 3-phase induction machines and synchronous machines : characteristics and preformance analysis; speed control.

7. Power Electronics and Electric Drives:
Semiconductor power devices: diode,transistor, thyristor, triac, GTO and MOSFET–static characteristics and principles of operation; triggering circuits; phase control rectifiers; bridge converters:fully-controlled and half-controlled; principles of thyristor choppers and inverters; DC-DC converters; Switch mode inverter; basic concepts of speed control of DC and AC Motor drives applications of variable-speed drives.

8. Analog Communication:

Random variables: continuous, discrete;probability, probability functions. Statistical averages; probability models; Random signals and noise: white noise, noise equivalent bandwidth; signal transmission with noise; signal to noise ratio. Linear CW modulation: Amplitude modulation: DSB,DSB-SC and SSB. Modulators and Demodulators; Phase and Frequency modulation: PM & FM signals; narrowband FM; generation & detection of FM and PM,Deemphasis, Preemphasis. CW modulation system: Superhetrodyne receivers, AM receivers, communication receivers, FM receivers, phase locked loop,SSB receiver Signal to noise ratio calculation for AM and FM receivers.

Paper – II

2. Microprocessors and Microcomputers:

PC organisation; CPU, instruction set,register set, timing diagram, programming, interrupts, memory interfacing, I/O interfacing, programmable peripheral devices.

3. Measurement and Instrumentation:

Error analysis; measurement of current,voltage, power, energy, powerfactor,resistance, inductance, capacitance and frequency; bridge measurement. Signal conditioning circuit; Electronic measuring instruments: multimeter, CRO, digital voltmeter, frequency counter, Q-meter,spectrum-analyzer, distortion-meter. Transducers: therocouple, thermistor, LVDT, strain-gauge, piezo-electric crystal.

4. Power Systems: Analysis and Control:

Steady-state performance of overhead transmission lines and cables; principles of active and reactive power transfer and distribution; per-unit quantities; bus admittance and impedance matrices; load flow; voltage control and power factor correction; economic operation; symmetrical components, analysis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical faults. Concept of system stability: swing curves and equal area criterion. Static VAR system. Basic concepts of HVDC transmission.

5. Power System Protection:

Principles of overcurrent, differential and distance protection. Concept of solid state relays. Circuit breakers. Computer aided protection: Introduction; line bus, generator, transformer protection; numeric relays and application of DSP to protection.

6. Digital Communication:

Pulse code modulation (PCM), differential pulse code modulation (DPCM), delta modulation (DM), Digital modulation and demodulation schemes: amplitude, phase and frequency keying schemes (ASK, PSK,FSK). Error control coding: error detection and correction, linear block codes,convolution codes. Information measure and source coding. Data networks, 7-layer architecture.