TRIAC – Definition,

Applications & Working

 ELECTRONICS
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TRIAC (Triode for AC) is the semiconductor device widely used in power control
and switching applications. It finds applications in switching, phase control,
chopper designs, brilliance control in lamps, speed control in fans, motors etc. The
power control system is designed to control the distribution level of AC or DC. Such
power control systems can be used to switch power to appliances manually or
when temperature or light levels go beyond a preset level.

TRIAC is equivalent to two SCRs connected in inverse parallel with the gates
connected together. As a result, the TRIAC functions as a Bidirectional switch to
pass the current in both directions once the gate is triggered. TRIAC is a three
terminal device with a Main terminal1 ( MT1), Main terminal 2( MT2) and a Gate.
The MT1 and MT2 terminals are used to connect the Phase and Neutral lines while
the Gate is used to feed the triggering pulse. The Gate can be triggered either by a
positive voltage or negative voltage. When the MT2 terminal gets a positive voltage
with respect to the MT1 terminal and the Gate gets a positive trigger, then the left
SCR of the TRIAC triggers and circuit completes. But if the polarity of the voltage
at the MT2 and MT1 terminals is reversed and a negative pulse is applied to the
Gate, then the right SCR of Triac conducts. When the Gate current is removed, the
TRIAC switches off. So a minimum holding current Ih must be maintained at the
gate to keep the TRIAC conducting.

Triggering a TRIAC
Usually 4 modes of triggering is possible in TRIAC:

TRIAC-SYMBOL
1. A positive voltage at MT2 and a positive pulse at the gate
2. A positive voltage at MT2 and a negative pulse at the gate
3. A negative voltage at MT2 and positive pulse at the gate
4. A negative voltage at MT2 and a negative pulse at the gate
Factors Affecting Working of TRIAC
Unlike SCRs, TRIACS require proper optimization for its proper functioning. Triacs
have inherent drawbacks like Rate effect, Backlash effect etc. So designing of
Triac based circuits need proper care.

Rate Effect Severely Affects the Working of TRIAC

There is an internal capacitance exists between the MT1 and MT2 terminals of the
Triac. If the MT1 terminal is supplied with a sharply increasing voltage, then it
results in the gate voltage break through. This triggers the Triac unnecessarily.
This phenomenon is called Rate effect. The Rate effect usually occurs due to the
Transients in the mains and also due to high inrush current when heavy inductive
loads switch on. This can be reduced by connecting an R-C network between the
MT1 and MT2 terminals.
 RATE EFFECT
Backlash Effect is Severe in Lamp Dimmer Circuits:
Back lash effect is the severe Control Hysteresis that develops in the lamp control
or speed control circuits using a Potentiometer to control the Gate current. When
the resistance of the potentio meter increases to maximum, the brightness of the
lamp reduces to minimum. When the pot is turned back, the lamp never turns on
until the resistance of the pot decreases to minimum. The reason for this is the
discharging of the capacitor in the Triac. The lamp dimmer circuits use a Diac to
give triggering pulse to the gate. So when the capacitor inside the Triac discharges
through the Diac, the Back lash effect develops. This can be rectified by using a
Resistor in series with the Diac or by adding a capacitor between the Gate and the
MT1 terminal of Triac.

Backlash Effect
Effect of RFI on TRIAC
Radio Frequency Interference severely affects the functioning of Triacs. When the
Triac switches on the load, the load current increases sharply from zero to a high
value depending on the supply voltage and resistance of the load. This result in the
generation of pulses of RFI. The strength of RFI is proportional to the wire
connecting the load with the Triac. An LC-RFI suppressor will rectify this defect.
Working of TRIAC
A simple application circuit of TRIAC is shown. Generally, TRIAC has three
terminals M1, M2 and gate. A TRIAC, lamp load and a supply voltage are
connected in series. When supply is ON at positive cycle then the current flows
through lamp, resistors and DIAC (provided a triggering pulses are provided at pin
1 of opto coupler resulting in pin 4 and 6 start conducting) gate and reaches the
supply and then only lamp glows for that half cycle directly through the M2 and M1
terminal of the TRIAC. In negative half cycle the same thing repeats. Thus the
lamp glows in both the cycles in a controlled manner depending upon the triggering
pulses at the opto isolator as seen on the graph below. If this is given to a motor
instead of lamp the power is controlled resulting in speed control.

TRIAC Circuit

TRIAC Wave Forms

Applications of TRIAC:
TRIACs are used in numerous applications such as light dimmers, speed controls
for electric fans and other electric motors and in the modern computerized control
circuits of numerous household small and major appliances. They can be used
both into AC and DC circuits however the original design was to replace the
utilization of two SCRs in AC circuits.There are two families of TRIACs, which are
mainly used for application purpose, they are BT136, BT139.

TRIAC BT136:
TRIAC BT136 is a family of TRIAC, it has current rate of 6AMPs. We already have
seen an application of TRIAC using BT136 above.