The Full Wave Rectifier

In the previous Power Diodes tutorial we discussed ways of reducing the ripple or voltage variations on a direct DC voltage by connecting capacitors across the load
resistance. While this method may be suitable for low power applications it is unsuitable to applications which need a “steady and smooth” DC supply voltage. One
method to improve on this is to use every half-cycle of the input voltage instead of every other half-cycle. The circuit which allows us to do this is called a Full Wave
Rectifier.

Like the half wave circuit, a Full Wave Rectifier Circuit produces an output voltage or current which is
purely DC or has some specified DC component. Full wave rectifiers have some fundamental advantages
over their half wave rectifier counterparts. The average (DC) output voltage is higher than for half wave, the
output of the full wave rectifier has much less ripple than that of the half wave rectifier producing a
smoother output waveform.
In a Full Wave Rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, one for each half of the cycle. A multiple
winding transformer is used whose secondary winding is split equally into two halves with a common
centre tapped connection, (C). This configuration results in each diode conducting in turn when its anode
terminal is positive with respect to the transformer centre point C producing an output during both half-
cycles, twice that for the half wave rectifier so it is 100% efficient as shown below.
Full Wave Rectifier Circuit

The full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes connected to a single load resistance (R ) with L

each diode taking it in turn to supply current to the load. When point A of the transformer is positive with
respect to point C, diode D conducts in the forward direction as indicated by the arrows.
1

When point B is positive (in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to point C, diode D conducts in the 2

forward direction and the current flowing through resistor R is in the same direction for both half-cycles. As
the output voltage across the resistor R is the phasor sum of the two waveforms combined, this type of full
wave rectifier circuit is also known as a “bi-phase” circuit.
As the spaces between each half-wave developed by each diode is now being filled in by the other diode the
average DC output voltage across the load resistor is now double that of the single half-wave rectifier circuit
and is about 0.637V of the peak voltage, assuming no losses.
max

Where: V is the maximum peak value in one half of the secondary winding and V is the rms value.
MAX RMS
The peak voltage of the output waveform is the same as before for the half-wave rectifier provided each half
of the transformer windings have the same rms voltage value. To obtain a different DC voltage output
different transformer ratios can be used. The main disadvantage of this type of full wave rectifier circuit is
that a larger transformer for a given power output is required with two separate but identical secondary
windings making this type of full wave rectifying circuit costly compared to the “Full Wave Bridge
Rectifier” circuit equivalent.

The Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Another type of circuit that produces the same output waveform as the full wave rectifier circuit above, is
that of the Full Wave Bridge Rectifier. This type of single phase rectifier uses four individual rectifying
diodes connected in a closed loop “bridge” configuration to produce the desired output. The main advantage
of this bridge circuit is that it does not require a special centre tapped transformer, thereby reducing its size
and cost. The single secondary winding is connected to one side of the diode bridge network and the load to
the other side as shown below.
The Diode Bridge Rectifier

The four diodes labelled D to D are arranged in “series pairs” with only two diodes conducting current
1 4

during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2conduct in series while
diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load as shown below.
The Positive Half-cycle

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1 andD2 switch
“OFF” as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is the same direction as before.
The Negative Half-cycle
As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across the load is also
unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave rectifier, therefore the average DC voltage
across the load is 0.637V .
max

Typical Bridge Rectifier

However in reality, during each half cycle the current flows through two diodes instead of just one so the
amplitude of the output voltage is two voltage drops ( 2 x 0.7 = 1.4V ) less than the input V amplitude. The
MAX

ripple frequency is now twice the supply frequency (e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply or 120Hz for a 60Hz
supply.)
Although we can use four individual power diodes to make a full wave bridge rectifier, pre-made bridge
rectifier components are available “off-the-shelf” in a range of different voltage and current sizes that can be
soldered directly into a PCB circuit board or be connected by spade connectors.
The image to the right shows a typical single phase bridge rectifier with one corner cut off. This cut-off
corner indicates that the terminal nearest to the corner is the positive or +ve output terminal or lead with the
opposite (diagonal) lead being the negative or -veoutput lead. The other two connecting leads are for the input
alternating voltage from a transformer secondary winding.

The Smoothing Capacitor

We saw in the previous section that the single phase half-wave rectifier produces an output wave every half
cycle and that it was not practical to use this type of circuit to produce a steady DC supply. The full-wave
bridge rectifier however, gives us a greater mean DC value (0.637 Vmax) with less superimposed ripple
while the output waveform is twice that of the frequency of the input supply frequency. We can therefore
increase its average DC output level even higher by connecting a suitable smoothing capacitor across the
output of the bridge circuit as shown below.
Full-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor
 Practical Electronics for Inventors

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The smoothing capacitor converts the full-wave rippled output of the rectifier into a smooth DC output
voltage. Generally for DC power supply circuits the smoothing capacitor is an Aluminium Electrolytic type
that has a capacitance value of 100uF or more with repeated DC voltage pulses from the rectifier charging
up the capacitor to peak voltage.
However, their are two important parameters to consider when choosing a suitable smoothing capacitor and
these are its Working Voltage, which must be higher than the no-load output value of the rectifier and
its Capacitance Value, which determines the amount of ripple that will appear superimposed on top of the
DC voltage.
Too low a capacitance value and the capacitor has little effect on the output waveform. But if the smoothing
capacitor is sufficiently large enough (parallel capacitors can be used) and the load current is not too large,
the output voltage will be almost as smooth as pure DC. As a general rule of thumb, we are looking to have
a ripple voltage of less than 100mV peak to peak.
The maximum ripple voltage present for a Full Wave Rectifier circuit is not only determined by the value
of the smoothing capacitor but by the frequency and load current, and is calculated as:
Bridge Rectifier Ripple Voltage
 Where: I is the DC load current in amps, ƒ is the frequency of the ripple or twice the input frequency in
Hertz, and C is the capacitance in Farads.
The main advantages of a full-wave bridge rectifier is that it has a smaller AC ripple value for a given load
and a smaller reservoir or smoothing capacitor than an equivalent half-wave rectifier. Therefore, the
fundamental frequency of the ripple voltage is twice that of the AC supply frequency (100Hz) where for the
half-wave rectifier it is exactly equal to the supply frequency (50Hz).
The amount of ripple voltage that is superimposed on top of the DC supply voltage by the diodes can be
virtually eliminated by adding a much improved π-filter (pi-filter) to the output terminals of the bridge rectifier.
This type of low-pass filter consists of two smoothing capacitors, usually of the same value and a choke or
inductance across them to introduce a high impedance path to the alternating ripple component
Another more practical and cheaper alternative is to use an off the shelf 3-terminal voltage regulator IC,
such as a LM78xx (where “xx” stands for the output voltage rating) for a positive output voltage or its inverse
equivalent the LM79xx for a negative output voltage which can reduce the ripple by more than 70dB
(Datasheet) while delivering a constant output current of over 1 amp.
In the next tutorial about diodes, we will look at the Zener Diode which takes advantage of its reverse
breakdown voltage characteristic to produce a constant and fixed output voltage across itself.

« Power Diodes and Rectifiers | The Zener Diode »

Other Good Tutorials in this Category

 Bypass Diodes in Solar Panels

 Diode Clipping Circuits

 Full Wave Rectifier

 PN Junction Diode

 PN Junction Theory

 Power Diodes and Rectifiers

 Semiconductor Basics

 The Light Emitting Diode

 The Signal Diode

 The Zener Diode

Tags: Diode Power Supply Semico

RMS Voltage Tutorial

 The RMS Voltage of an AC Waveform
In our tutorial about the AC Waveform we looked briefly at the RMS Voltage value of a sinusoidal waveform and said that this RMS value gives the
same heating effect as an equivalent DC power and in this tutorial we will expand on this theory a little more by looking at RMS voltages and
currents in more detail.

The term “RMS” stands for “Root-Mean-Squared”. Most books define this as the “amount of AC power that produces the same heating effect as an equivalent
DC power”, or something similar along these lines, but an RMS value is more than just that. The RMS value is the square root of the mean (average) value of
the squared function of the instantaneous values. The symbols used for defining an RMS value are VRMS or IRMS.

The term RMS, ONLY refers to time-varying sinusoidal voltages, currents or complex waveforms were the magnitude of the waveform changes over time and
is not used in DC circuit analysis or calculations were the magnitude is always constant. When used to compare the equivalent RMS voltage value of an
alternating sinusoidal waveform that supplies the same electrical power to a given load as an equivalent DC circuit, the RMS value is called the “effective
value” and is generally presented as: Veff or Ieff.

In other words, the effective value is an equivalent DC value which tells you how many volts or amps of DC that a time-varying sinusoidal waveform is equal
to in terms of its ability to produce the same power. For example, the domestic mains supply in the United Kingdom is 240Vac. This value is assumed to
indicate an effective value of “240 Volts RMS”. This means then that the sinusoidal RMS voltage from the wall sockets of a UK home is capable of producing
the same average positive power as 240 volts of steady DC voltage as shown below.

RMS Voltage Equivalent

So how do we calculated the RMS Voltage of a sinusoidal waveform. The RMS voltage of a sinusoid or complex waveform can be determined by two basic
methods.

 Graphical Method – which can be used to find the RMS value of any non-sinusoidal time-varying waveform by drawing a number of mid-ordinates

onto the waveform.

 Analytical Method – is a mathematical procedure for finding the effective or RMS value of any periodic voltage or current using calculus.

RMS Voltage Graphical Method

Whilst the method of calculation is the same for both halves of an AC waveform, for this example we will consider only the positive half cycle. The effective or
RMS value of a waveform can be found with a reasonable amount of accuracy by taking equally spaced instantaneous values along the waveform.

The positive half of the waveform is divided up into any number of “n” equal portions or mid-ordinates and the more mid-ordinates that are drawn along the
waveform, the more accurate will be the final result. The width of each mid-ordinate will therefore be no degrees and the height of each mid-ordinate will be
equal to the instantaneous value of the waveform at that time along the x-axis of the waveform.

Graphical Method
Each mid-ordinate value of a waveform (the voltage waveform in this case) is multiplied by itself (squared) and added to the next. This method gives us the
“square” or Squared part of the RMS voltage expression. Next this squared value is divided by the number of mid-ordinates used to give us the Mean part of
the RMS voltage expression, and in our simple example above the number of mid-ordinates used was twelve (12). Finally, the square root of the previous
result is found to give us the Root part of the RMS voltage.

Then we can define the term used to describe an RMS voltage (VRMS) as being “the square root of the mean of the square of the mid-ordinates of the voltage
waveform” and this is given as:

and for our simple example above, the RMS voltage will be calculated as:

So lets assume that an alternating voltage has a peak voltage (Vpk) of 20 volts and by taking 10 mid-ordinate values is found to vary over one half cycle as
follows:

Voltage 6.2V 11.8V 16.2V 19.0V 20.0V 19.0V 16.2V 11.8V 6.2V 0V

Angle 18o 36o 54o 72o 90o 108o 126o 144o 162o 180o

The RMS voltage is therefore calculated as:

Then the RMS Voltage value using the graphical method is given as: 14.14 Volts.
RMS Voltage Analytical Method
The graphical method above is a very good way of finding the effective or RMS voltage, (or current) of an alternating waveform that is not symmetrical or
sinusoidal in nature. In other words the waveform shape resembles that of a complex waveform. However, when dealing with pure sinusoidal waveforms we
can make life a little bit easier for ourselves by using an analytical or mathematical way of finding the RMS value.

A periodic sinusoidal voltage is constant and can be defined as V(t) = Vm.cos(ωt) with a period of T. Then we can calculate the root-mean-square (rms) value
of a sinusoidal voltage (V(t)) as:

Integrating through with limits taken from 0 to 360o or “T”, the period gives:

Dividing through further as ω = 2π/T, the complex equation above eventually reduces down too:

RMS Voltage Equation

Then the RMS voltage (VRMS) of a sinusoidal waveform is determined by multiplying the peak voltage value by 0.7071, which is the same as one divided by the
square root of two ( 1/√2 ). The RMS voltage, which can also be referred to as the effective value, depends on the magnitude of the waveform and is not a
function of either the waveforms frequency nor its phase angle.

From the graphical example above, the peak voltage (Vpk) of the waveform was given as 20 Volts. By using the analytical method just defined we can
calculate the RMS voltage as being:

VRMS = Vpk x 0.7071 = 20 x 0.7071 = 14.14V

Note that this value of 14.14 volts is the same value as for the previous graphical method. Then we can use either the graphical method of mid-ordinates, or
the analytical method of calculation to find the RMS voltage or current values of a sinusoidal waveform. Note that multiplying the peak or maximum value by
the constant 0.7071, ONLY applies to sinusoidal waveforms. For non-sinusoidal waveforms the graphical method must be used.

RMS Voltage Summary

Then to summarise. When dealing with Alternating Voltages (or currents) we are faced with the problem of how we represent the signal magnitude. One easy
way is to use the peak values for the waveform. Another common method is to use the effective value which is also known by its more common expression
of Root Mean Square or simply the RMS value.

Note that the RMS value is not the same as the average of all the instantaneous values. The ratio of the RMS value of voltage to the maximum value of
voltage is the same as the ratio of the RMS value of current to the maximum value of current. Most multi-meters, either voltmeters or ammeters, measure
RMS value assuming a pure sinusoidal waveform. For finding the RMS value of non-sinusoidal waveform a “True RMS Multimeter” is required.

Having now determined the RMS value of an alternating voltage (or current) waveform, in the next tutorial we will look at calculating the “Average” value VAV of
an alternating voltage and finally compare the two.

The Average Voltage of a Sinusoid

Having looked at the RMS Voltage value of an alternating waveform in a previous tutorial, we can now look at calculating another value using either the mid-
ordinate rule or analytical rule to find a waveforms “average” or mean voltage.

The process used to find the Average Voltage of an alternating waveform is very similar to that for finding
its RMS value, the difference this time is that the instantaneous values are not squared and we do not find
the square root of the summed mean.
The average voltage (or current) of a periodic waveform whether it is a sine wave, square wave or triangular
waveform is defined as: “the quotient of the area under the waveform with respect to time”. In other words,
the averaging of all the instantaneous values along time axis with time being one full period, (T).
For a periodic waveform, the area above the horizontal axis is positive while the area below the horizontal
axis is negative. The result is that the average or mean value of a symmetrical alternating quantity is zero
because the area above the horizontal axis (the positive half cycle) is the same as the area below the axis (the
negative half cycle) and cancel each other out in the sum of the two areas as a negative cancels a positive
producing zero average voltage.
Then the average or mean value of a symmetrical alternating quantity, such as a sine wave, is the average
value measured over only half a cycle since over a complete cycle the average value is zero regardless of the
peak amplitude.
The electrical terms Average Voltage and Mean Voltage or or even average current, can be used in both an
AC and DC circuit analysis or calculations. The symbols used for representing an average value are defined
as: V or I .
AV AV

Average Voltage Graphical Method

Again consider only the positive half cycle from the previous RMS voltage tutorial. The mean or average
voltage of a waveform can be found again with a reasonable amount of accuracy by taking equally spaced
instantaneous values. The positive half of the waveform is divided up into any number of “n” equal portions
or mid-ordinates. The width of each mid-ordinate will therefore be n degrees (or t seconds) and the height of
o

each mid-ordinate will be equal to the instantaneous value of the waveform at that point along the x-axis of
the waveform.
The Graphical Method

Each mid-ordinate value of the voltage waveform is added to the next and the summed total, V toV is 1 12

divided by the number of mid-ordinates used to give us the “Average Voltage”. Then the average voltage
(V ) is the mean sum of mid-ordinates of the voltage waveform and is given as:
AV

and for our simple example above, the average voltage is therefore calculated as:
So as before lets assume again that an alternating voltage of 20 volts peak varies over one half cycle as
follows:

Voltage 6.2V 11.8V 16.2V 19.0V 20.0V 19.0V 16.2V 11.8V 6.2V 0V

Angle 18 o
36 o
54 o
72 o
90 o
108 126 144 162 180
o o o o o

The Average voltage value is therefore calculated as:

Then the Average Voltage value using the graphical method is given as: 12.64 Volts.

Average Voltage Analytical Method

As said previously, the average voltage of a periodic waveform whose two halves are exactly similar, either
sinusoidal or non-sinusoidal, will be zero over one complete cycle. Then the average value is obtained by
adding the instantaneous values of voltage over one half cycle only. But in the case of an non-symmetrical
or complex wave, the average voltage (or current) must be taken over the whole periodic cycle
mathematically.
The average value can be taken mathematically by taking the approximation of the area under the curve at
various intervals to the distance or length of the base and this can be done using triangles or rectangles as
shown.
Approximation of the Area

By approximating the areas of the rectangles under the curve, we can obtain a rough idea of the actual area
of each one. By adding together all these areas the average value can be found. If an infinite number of
smaller thinner rectangles were used, the more accurate would be the final result as it approaches 2/π.
The area under the curve can be found by various approximation methods such as the trapezoidal rule,
the mid-ordinate rule or Simpson’s rule. Then the mathematical area under the positive half cycle of the
periodic wave which is defined as V = Vp.cos(ωt) with a period of T using integration is given as:
(t)

Where: 0 and π are the limits of integration since we are determining the average value of voltage over one
half a cycle. Then the area below the curve is finally given as Area = 2V . Since we now know the area under the
P

positive (or negative) half cycle, we can easily determine the average value of the positive (or negative)
region of a sinusoidal waveform by integrating the sinusoidal quantity over half a cycle and dividing by half
the period.
For example, if the instantaneous voltage of a sinusoid is given as: v = Vp.sinθ and the period of a sinusoid is
given as: 2π, then:

Which is therefore given as the standard equation for the Average Voltage of a sine wave as:
Average Voltage Equation

Then the average voltage (V ) of a sinusoidal waveform is determined by multiplying the peak voltage value
AV

by the constant 0.637, which is two divided by pi (π). The average voltage, which can also be referred to as
the mean value, depends on the magnitude of the waveform and is not a function of either the frequency or
the phase angle.
Referring to our graphical example above, the peak voltage, (V ) was given as 20 Volts. Using the analytical
pk

method the average voltage is therefore calculated as:

VAV = Vpk x 0.637 = 20 x 0.637 = 12.74V

Which is the same value as for the graphical method. However, multiplying the peak or maximum value by
the constant 0.637 ONLY applies to sinusoidal waveforms.
Average Voltage Summary

Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology

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Then to summarise. When dealing with alternating voltages (or currents), the term Average value is
generally taken over one complete cycle, whereas the term Mean value is used for one half of the periodic
cycle.
The average value of a whole sinusoidal waveform over one complete cycle is zero as the two halves cancel
each other out, so the average value is taken over half a cycle. The average value of a sine wave of voltage
or current is 0.637 times the peak value, (Vp or Ip. This mathematical relationship between the average values
applies to both AC current and AC voltage.
Sometimes it is required to be able to calculate the value of the direct voltage or current output from a
rectifier or pulse type circuit such as a PWM motor circuit because the voltage or current, although not
reversing, is changing continuously. Since there are no phase reversals the average value is used and the
RMS (root-mean-square) value is unimportant for this type of application.
The main differences between an RMS Voltage and an Average Voltage, is that the mean value of a
periodic wave is the average of all the instantaneous areas taken under the curve over a given period of the
waveform, and in the case of a sinusoidal quantity, this period is taken as one-half of the cycle of the wave.
For convenience the positive half cycle is generally used.
The effective value or root-mean-square (RMS) value of the waveform is the effective heating value of the
wave compared to a steady DC value and is the square root of the mean of the squares of the instantaneous
values taken over one complete cycle.
For a pure sinusoidal waveform ONLY, both the average voltage and the RMS voltage (or currents) can be
easily calculated as:
Average value = 0.637 × maximum or peak value, Vpk
RMS value = 0.707 × maximum or peak value, Vpk
 One final comment about using Average Voltage and RMS Voltage. Both values can be used to represent
the “Form Factor” of a sinusoidal alternating waveform. Form factor is defined as being the shape of an AC
waveform and is the RMS voltage divided by the average voltage (form factor = rms value/average value).
So for a sinusoidal or complex waveform the form factor is given as: ( π/(2√2) ) which is approximately equal
to the constant, 1.11. Form factor is a ratio and therefore has no electrical units. If the form factor of a
sinusoidal waveform is known, then the average voltage can be found using the RMS voltage value and
vice-versa.

« RMS Voltage Tutorial | Reactive Power »

Other Good Tutorials in this Category

 AC Capacitance and Capacitive Reactance

 AC Inductance and Inductive Reactance

 AC Resistance and Impedance

 AC Waveform and AC Circuit Theory

 Average Voltage Tutorial

 Complex Numbers and Phasors

 Harmonics

 Parallel Resonance Circuit

 Parallel RLC Circuit Analysis

 Passive Components in AC Circuits

 Phase Difference and Phase Shift

 Phasor Diagrams and Phasor Algebra

 Reactive Power

 RMS Voltage Tutorial

 Series Resonance Circuit

 Series RLC Circuit Analysis

 Sinusoidal Waveforms

Tags: AC Circuits Sinusoids Waveform

9 Responses to “Average Voltage Tutorial”




1.

Hunde Deressa

It is some what good for like us students & if it is fully explained & some sort addition books is free for us some what attractive more. Thanks to do
this. From ASTU

March 17th, 2015 Reply

Wayne Storr

You can download my free eBook to learn more.

March 17th, 2015 Reply

2.

Tina

Which value is higher? The Average DC Value or The Average AC Value? Trying to figure out the difference.

September 17th, 2014 Reply

Wayne Storr

Depends on the DC voltage. For constant DC the average is the peak value, for pulsating DC the average voltage depends on the duty
cycle. The average (or mean) voltage of a sinusoid is 0.637 times the peak or Vav = 0.637Vp

September 18th, 2014 Reply

3.

ichael

There seems to be an error

Adding all the voltages above I get 126.4 not 127.4. I did the addition several times.

Tell me I’m wrong.

That aside you do explain it all very well.

Thanks

Mike

September 1st, 2014 Reply

Wayne Storr

Hello Mike, yes your right, I guess the batteries were flat in my calculator that day. Thanks for spotting the mistake.

September 1st, 2014 Reply

4.

krishna rao kakde

Thanks

August 24th, 2014 Reply

5.

JohnBS

” ( π/(2√2) ) which is exactly equal to the constant, 1.11″

Not exactly: the value is 1.1107.. to 4dp, so rounds to 1.111

June 23rd, 2014 Reply

6.
 Jonhny Magtulis

Thanks alot

June 20th, 2014 Reply

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SCR UYGULAMA ORNEKLERİ-3A

Dimer devreleri

Sanhe Songshi 15W vibrating massage stick circuit

Published:2011-4-18 2:58:00 Author:Ecco | Keyword: Sanhe , Songshi , 15W , vibrating, massage stick
PWM motor speed control circuit

Published:2011-3-22 3:16:00 Author:may | Keyword: PWM motor speed control

diagram: PWM motor speed control circuit (View)

3-phase reaction stepping motor driver circuit diagram

Published:2011-3-24 22:30:00 Author:may | Keyword: 3-phase reaction stepping motor driver

diagram: 3-phase reaction stepping motor driver circuit diagram (View)

http://booklens.com/g-k-dubey/thyristorised-power-controllers

3.5 Ac speed motor controller

Figure 1: ac speed motor controller

3.5.1Principle of work

This AC motor speed controller can handle most universal type (brushed) AC motors and other loads up to about
250W. It works in much the same was a light dimmer circuit; by chopping part of the AC waveform off to effectively
control voltage. Because of this functionality, the circuit will work for a wide variety of loads including incandescent
light bulbs, heating elements, brushed AC motors and some transformers. The circuit tries to maintain a constant
motor speed regardless of load so it is also ideal for power tools. Note that the circuit can only control brushed AC
motors. Inductive motors require a variable frequency control.

Parts list:

R1 27K 1W Resistor
R2 10K 1/4W Resistor
R3 100K 1/4W Resistor
R4 33K 1/4W Resistor
R5 2.2K 1/4W Resistor
R6 1K 1/4W Resistor
R7 60K Ohm 1/4W Resistor
R8 3K Linear Taper Trim Pot
R9 5K Linear Taper Pot
R10 4.7K Linear Taper Trim Pot
R11 3.3K 1/4W Resistor
R12 100 Ohm 1/4W Resistor
R13 47 Ohm 1W Resistor
C1, C3 0.1uF Ceramic Disc Capacitor
C2 100uF 50V Electrolytic Capacitor
D1 6V Zener Diode
Q1 2N2222 NPN Transistor
SCR1 2n65041
TR1 TRIAC (See Notes)
U1 DIAC Opto-Isolator
BR1, BR2 5A 50V Bridge Rectifier
T1 Transformer

We choose the following light dimmer circuit to study

Figure 2: light dimmer circuit

1
See appendix for datasheet
3.1 Battery charger based on scr

Figure 3: battery charger

How to protect an SCR using protection circuits ?

SCRs are sensitive to high voltage, over-current, and any form of transients. For satisfactory and reliable
operation they are required to be protected against such abnormal operating conditions. Because of complex
and expensive protection, usually some margin is provided in the equipment by selecting devices with
ratings higher (3 or 4 times higher) than those required for normal operation. But it is always not economi-cal
to use devices of higher ratings, hence their protection is imperative.
Over-voltage Protection.

SCR Over Voltage Protection

High forward voltage protection is inherent in SCRs. The SCR will breakdown and start conducting before the
peak forward voltage is attained so that the high voltage is transferred to another part of the circuit (usually
the load). The turn-on of SCR causes a large current to flow and poses a problem of over-current pro-tection.
Over-current Protection.

SCR Over Current Protection

Over-current protection can be provided by connecting a circuit breaker and a fuse in series with the SCR, as
usually done for the protection of any circuit. However, there are some reservations to their use. A
semiconductor device is capable of taking overloads for a limited period, so the fuse used should have high
breaking capacity and rapid interruption of current. There must be a similarity of SCR and fuse I 2t rating
without developing high voltage transients which endanger those SCRs in the off or infinite impedance
condition. These are contradictory requirements necessitating voltage protection when fast-acting fuses are
employed. Fuses when used, their arc voltages are kept below 1.5 times the peak circuit voltage. For small
power applications it is pointless to employ high speed fuses for circuit protection because it may cost more
than the SCR. Current magnitude detection can be employed and is used in many applications. When an over-
current is detected the gate circuits are controlled either to turn-off the appropriate SCRs, or in phase
commutation, to reduce the conduction period and so the average value of the current.
If the output to the load from the SCR circuit is alternating current, LC resonance provides over-current
protection as well as filtering. A current limiting device employing a saturable reactor is shown in figure. With
normal currents the saturable reactor L1 offers high impedance and C and L are in series reso-nance to offer
zero impedance to the flow of current of the fundamental harmonic. An over-current saturates L1 and so gives
negligible impedance. There is LC?parallel resonance and hence infinite impedance to the flow of current at
the resonant frequency.
Protection against Voltage Surges.
There are many types of failure due to voltage surges as SCRs do not really have a safety factor included in
their ratings. External voltage surges cannot be controlled by the SCR circuit designer. Voltage surges often
lead to either malfunctioning of the circuit by unintentional turn-on of SCR or permanent damage to the
device due to reverse breakdown. SCR can be protected against voltage surges by employing?shunt
connected non-linear resistance devices. Such protective devices register a fall in resistance with the
increase in voltage and so develop a virtual short-circuit across the SCR when a high voltage is applied. An
over-voltage protection circuit employing thyrector-diode, which has low resistance at high voltage and vice-
versa, is shown in figure. Inductor L and capacitor C provides protection to SCR against large dV/dt and dI/dt.

DA Ayarlayıcısı ile DA motor kontrolü

Digital lock 6
The digital lock circuit is composed of the power switch SO, power transformer T, bridge rectifier UR, relays Kl, K2,
password buttons Sl-Sl2, transistors VT, LED VLl, VL2, diodes VD1-VD4, resistors R1 -R3 and capacitors Cl-C6, and
it is shown in Figure 3-103. Rl-R3 use the 1/4W carbon film resistors or metal film resistors. Cl-C4 select ultra small
aluminum electrolytic capacitors with the voltage in 16V; C5 uses the monolithic capacitor. VD1-VD4 are choose
1N4148 silicon switch diode; VD5 uses the lN4007 silicon rectifier diode.

Electronic ballast circuit diagram for fluoresent lamp

The electronic ballast circuit for fluorescent lamp is composed of the rectifier filter circuit, high-frequency oscillator
circuit and output circuit. In the circuit, the rectifier filter circuit consists of the rectifier diodes VD1- VD4 and filter
capacitors C1, C2; high-frequency oscillator consists of the transistors vi, V2, resistors R1-R7, capacitors C3, C4, C6,
diodes VD5- VD8 and high frequency transformer T (W1-W3 are wound on the same magnetic ring to form a high-
frequency transformer); output circuit is composed of the chokes L1, L2 and capacitors C1-C10.

Ground control electric fan circuit diagram

Motor_speed_control_with_tachometer_feedback
This circuit shows a triac motor-speed control that derives feedback from a magnet-coil tachometer that is placed near
the motor fan (Figs. 8-17B and 8-17C). Motor speed is controlled by the 5-kΩ pot. The MAC210-4 triac is capable of
handling motor loads up to 10 A.

Basic_SCR_control_circuit_that_uses_an_SBS

This figure shows the basic control circuit for SCRs that use SBS triggers, and is preferable to that of Fig. 8-24 (triac),
where high power must be handled, or whore rapidly rising voltages are encountered (high dv/dt,). Although the
circuits of both Figs. 8-24 and 8-25 were designed as incandescent-lamp dimmers, the circuits are well suited to
control of universal and shaded-pole motors. Such motors have higher torque at low speeds when open-loop
controlled by these circuits, rather than with rheostats or variable transformers (because of the higher voltage pulses
applied).

Basic_triac_control_circuit_that_uses_an_SBS
This figure shows the basic control circuit for triacs that use SBS triggers. The line voltage and load current depend
primarily on the triac characteristics. In this case, the MAC210-4 accommodates loads up to 10 A.

Electronic_crowbar

This circuit provides positive protection of expensive electrical or electronic equipment against excessive supply
voltage (resulting from improper switching, short circuits, failure of regulators, etc.). The circuit is used where it is
economically desirable to shut down equipment, rather than allow the equipment to operate at excessive voltages.
The circuit quickly places a short across the power lines (ac or dc), and thereby drops the voltage to the protected
device to near zero and blows a fuse. With the values shown, the crowbar operating point (set point) can be adjusted
over the range of 60 to 120 Vdc or 42 to 84 Vac. The values of R1 to R3 can be changed to cover different supply
voltages, but the triac voltage rating must be greater than the highest operating point that is set by R2. Lamp II (with a
voltage rating that is equal to the supply) can be used to check the set point and operation of the circuit, by opening
the push-to-test switch and adjusting the input or set point to fire the SBS. An alarm unit such as the Mallory Sonalert
can be connected across the fuse to provide an audible indication of crowbar action. Notice that this circuit cannot act
on short, infrequent power-line transients.

Line_operated_level_switch
This circuit uses a CA3096 or CA3096A transistor array to control a triac.

On_off_touch_switch

This circuit uses a CA3240E to sense small currents flowing between contact points on a touch plate, which consists
of a PC board metalization grid. When the On plate is touched, current flows between the two halves of the grid, and
causes a positive shift in the output voltage (pin 7) of the CA3240E. These positive transitions are fed into the
CA3079, which is used as a latching circuit and zero-crossing triac driver. When pin7 of the CA3240 is positive, the
triac and lamp are on. The opposite occurs when the Off plate is touched, and pin 1 of the CA3240 is positive.

Temperature_controller

This circuit shows a CA3094B and triac that are connected to form a temperature controller.

800_W_soft_start_light_dimmer
This circuit shows the basic UJT building block (Fig. 9-1), which is used in a light dimmer with soft-start operation that
applies current to the light slowly enough to eliminate high surges (high inrush current). These current surges, found in
most cold-filament light dimmers, shorten lamp life. With this circuit, the lamp is heated slowly by a gradually
increasing voltage so that inrush current is kept to a minimum. R4 controls the charging rate of C2 and provides the
means to control or dim the lamp.

Half_wave_thyristor_control_with_average_voltage_feedback

This circuit shows a UJT used as a thyristor trigger (with feedback), where the average load voltage is the desired
feedback variable. R1, R2, and C1 average the load voltage so that the voltage can be compared with the set point
that is determined by RC.

Optocoupler_driven_SCR
This circuit shows a 4N26 driving an SCR, which, in turn, is used to control an inductive load. The SCR is a sensitive-
gate device ( 1 mA of gate current) and the 4N26 has a minimum-current transfer ratio of 0.2, so the 4N26 input
current (IF) must be 5 mA. The 1-kΩ resistor prevents the SCR from triggering with small input changes, and the
1N4005 prevents the SCR from triggering with the self-induced voltage when the SCR turns off.

Time-Varying Dimming Circuit

The picture shows the time-varying dimming circuit.As shown, it uses the unijunction transistor (UJT) trigger circuit,
whose function is that it could make the lamp's brightness light up gradually and automatically, or light out gradually
and automatically (which means the so-called soft starting or soft stopping). This circuit could be used to control street
lamp, home lamp, film-playing place, film-playing room and so on, and these cases would be very adequate. This
could make people's eyes adapt to the photometric requirements gradually, so that it is good for eye's health.The
working principle: when the S3 is connected, the circuit would get power supply. If the S1 is switched to upside, the
C1, C2 would be charged. Because the C2's two ports' voltage is advanced than the C1's two ports' voltage, the C1's
charging voltage would be increased firstly and the C2 voltage would follow it to be increased. The SCR's conduction
angle would be wider and the lamp's two ports' voltage would be increased, so the lamp would be light up gradually.

250W SCR Inverter Circuit

Pulse DC Electronic Fishing Device Circuit (3)

The Pulse DC Electronic Fishing Device Circuit

One kind of electron ballast circuit principle diagram

Sanhe Songshi 15W vibrating massage stick circuit

(View)

PWM motor speed control circuit

diagram: PWM motor speed control circuit.

3KW controlled silicon DC speed governing system circuit

Electric fan stepless speed regulation circuit diagram

Electric fan stepless speed regulation circuit diagram is shown in the diagram: (View)

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engine oil pressure switch、water temperature sensor、braking smoke and air condition system circuit diagram

Published:2011-4-10 20:39:00 Author:muriel | Keyword: engine oil pressure switch, water temperature sensor, braking
smoke , air condition system

Figure engine oil pressure switch 、 water temperature sensor 、 braking smoke and air condition system circuit
diagram (View)

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Air-condition front and back control assembly and ambient temperature control circuit diagram

Published:2011-4-10 20:25:00 Author:muriel | Keyword: Air-condition front and back control assembly, ambient
temperature control
Figure Air-condition front and back control assembly and ambient temperature control circuit diagram (View)

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The application circuit of EXB851

Published:2011-4-8 2:26:00 Author:may

(View)

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Application circuit of EXB840

Published:2011-4-8 2:10:00 Author:may

 (View)

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D type IPM structure and IGBT equivalent circuit

Published:2011-4-8 2:01:00 Author:may | Keyword: D type, IPM, structure, equivalent

(a) D type IPM structure (b) IGBT equivalent circuit (View)

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Typical application wiring diagram of HL610A

Published:2011-4-8 1:57:00 Author:may

 (View)

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Power module unit diagram of IGBT and fly-wheel diode

Published:2011-4-8 1:07:00 Author:may | Keyword: IGBT, fly-wheel diode, Power module

(a) is single switch module; (b) is two unit (half bridge) module; (c) is H bridge (single phase bridge) module; (d) is
asymmetrical H bridge module; (e) is three phase bridge (six unit or inverter bridge) module; (f) is chopping module (g)
is chopping module (h) is three phase bridge GD add chopping GAL (braking chopper circuit) module; (i) is three unit
module, consists of three group switch; (j) is single switch add collector end series diode ( negative direction
disconnecting switch) module; (k) is single switch add emitter end series diode (negative direction disconnecting
switch) module; (l) is two unit module, with series diode (negative direction disconnecting switch). (View)

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CFL electron ballast circuit composed of MPIC2151P and PowerLuxTM IGBT

Published:2011-4-2 3:25:00 Author:may | Keyword: electron ballast, PowerLuxTM IGBT

 (View)

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The package of Mitsubishi IPM

Published:2011-4-7 20:48:00 Author:may | Keyword: Mitsubishi,

IPM is advanced hybrid integrated power device. It is integrated high-speed, low power consumption IGBT chip and
optimal grid drive circuit and kinds of protective circuit in one module. Compare to ordinary IGBT, IPM has further
increase in system features and reliability. Also, because its conduction losses and switch losses is quite low, the size
of radiator is small, so size of the whole system is more small. Moreover IPM internal integrated logic, control, detect
ion and protect circuit, the use is convenient, it not only decrease the volume of this system and the development time,
also greatly add reliability of the system. (View)