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ELECS 1 DEPONE, CARMELA R.

CPE32 Draw, Explain and give application: Half wave rectifier Full wave rectifier Bridge full wave rectifier Center tapped full wave rectifier Clipper Clamper ENGR. KRISTIAN DIMARANAN

ANSWERS:

1. Full Wave Rectifier Circuit

The full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes connected to a single load resistance (RL) with 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 D1 conducts in the forward direction as indicated by the arrows. When point B is positive (in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to point C, diode D2 conducts in the 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 0.637Vmax of the peak voltage, assuming no losses.

Where: VMAX is the maximum peak value in one half of the secondary winding and VRMS is the rms value. 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.

2. 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 D1 to D4 are arranged in "series pairs" with only two diodes conducting current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply,

diodes D1 and D2 conduct 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 and D2switch "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 0.637Vmax. 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 VMAX amplitude. The ripple frequency is now twice the supply frequency (e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz 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 +veoutput terminal or lead with the opposite (diagonal) lead being the negative or -ve output 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

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 value and the capacitor has little effect but if the smoothing capacitor is 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, 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 halfwave 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 -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 a 3-terminal voltage regulator IC, such as a LM78xx for a positive output voltage or 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.

3. Centre-Tap Full-Wave Rectifier


In such a rectifier, the ac input is applied through a transformer, the anodes of the two diodes D1 and D2 (having similar characteristics) are connected to the opposite ends of the centre tapped secondary winding and two cathodes are connected to each other and are connected also through the load resistance RL and back to the centre of the transformer, as shown.

When the top of the transformer secondary winding is positive, say during the first halfcycle of the supply, the anode of diode D1 is positive w.r.t. cathode, and anode of diode D2 is negative w.r.t. cathode. Thus only diode D1 conducts, being forward biased and current flows from cathode to anode of diode D1 through load resistance RL and top half the transformer secondary making cathode end of load resistance RL positive. During the second half-cycle of the input voltage the polarity is reversed, making the bottom of the secondary winding positive w.r.t. centre tap and thus diode D2 is forward biased and diode D1 is reverse biased. Consequently during this half-cycle of the input only the diode D2 conducts and current flows through the load resistance RL and bottom of the transformer secondary making the cathode end of the load resistance RL positive. Thus the direction of flow of current through the load resistance RL remains the same during both halves of the input/supply voltage. Thus the circuit shown acts as a full-wave rectifier.

4. Half wave rectifier circuit


In half wave rectification, either the positive or negative half of the AC wave is passed, while the other half is blocked. Because only one half of the input waveform reaches the output, it is very inefficient if used for power transfer. Half-wave rectification can be achieved with a single diode in a one-phase supply, or with three diodes in a three-phase supply. Half wave rectifiers yield a unidirectional but pulsating direct current.

The output DC voltage of a half wave rectifier can be calculated with the following two ideal equations:[1]

5. Clipper

is a device designed to prevent the output of a circuit from exceeding a predetermined voltage level without distorting the remaining part of the applied waveform. A clipping circuit consists of linear elements like resistors and non-linear elements like junction diodes or transistors, but it does not contain energy-storage elements like capacitors. Clipping circuits are used to select for purposes of transmission, that part of a signal wave form which lies above or below a certain reference voltage level. Thus a clipper circuit can remove certain portions of an arbitrary waveform near the positive or negative peaks. Clipping may be achieved either at one level or two levels. Usually under the section of clipping, there is a change brought about in the wave shape of the signal. Clipping Circuits are also called as Slicers, amplitude selectors or limiters. Using square waveform it is easier to analyze the clipper network than sinusoidal waveform,because in square waveform only two level (i.e.two DC level) have to be considered.

TYPE (Zener Diode)

Two shunt diode clipper circuits

In the example circuits above, one or two zener diodes are used to clip the voltage VIN. In the first circuit, the voltage is clipped to the reverse breakdown voltage of the zener diode. The output voltage in the first circuit should also never be more negative than the diode's forward voltage (such as .7V for a typical diode), but it is not shown in the picture. In the second, the

voltage in either direction is limited to the reverse breakdown voltage plus the voltage drop across one zener diode. Classification Clippers may be classified into two types based on the positioning of the diode.

Series Clippers, where the diode is in series with the load resistance, and Shunt Clippers, where the diode in shunted across the load resistance.

The diode capacitance affects the operation of the clipper at high frequency and influences the choice between the above two types. High frequency signals are attenuated in the shunt clipper as the diode capacitance provides an alternative path to output current. In the series clipper, clipping effectiveness is reduced for the same reason as the high frequency current passes through without being sufficiently blocked. Clippers may be classified based on the orientation(s) of the diode. The orientation decides which half cycle is affected by the clipping action. Depending of feature of diode, the positive or negative region of the input signal is "clipped" off & accordingly the diode clipper can be classified as:

Positive Diode Clipper, the positive half cycle of the input will be removed. Negative Diode Clipper, the negative half cycle of the input will be removed.

The clipping action can be made to happen at an arbitrary level by using a biasing element (potential sources) in series with the diode.

Positively Biased Diode Clipper Negatively Biased Diode Clipper

The signal can be clipped to between two levels by using both types of diode clippers in combination. This clipper is referred to as

Combinational Diode Clipper or Two-Level Clippers

The clamping network is the one that will "clamp" a signal to a different dc level. The network must have capacitor, a diode, and a resistive element, but it also employs an independent dc supply to introduce an additional shift.

6. Clamper
is an electronic circuit that prevents a signal from exceeding a certain defined magnitude by shifting its DC value. The clamper does not restrict the peak-to-peak excursion of the signal, but moves it up or down by a fixed value. A diode clamp (a simple, common type) relies on a diode, which conducts electric current in only one direction; resistors and capacitors in the circuit are used to maintain an altered dc level at the clamper output.

General function
A clamping circuit (also known as a clamper) will bind the upper or lower extreme of a waveform to a fixed DC voltage level. These circuits are also known as DC voltage restorers. Clampers can be constructed in both positive and negative polarities. When unbiased, clamping circuits will fix the voltage lower limit (or upper limit, in the case of negative clampers) to 0 Volts. These circuits clamp a peak of a waveform to a specific DC level compared with a capacitive coupled signal which swings about its average DC level Clamp circuits are categorized by their operation; negative or positive and biased and unbiased. A positive clamp circuit outputs a purely positive waveform from an input signal; it offsets the input signal so that all of the waveform is greater than 0 V. A negative clamp is the opposite of this - this clamp outputs a purely negative waveform from an input signal. A bias voltage between the diode and ground offsets the output voltage by that amount. For example, an input signal of peak value 5 V (VIN = 5 V) is applied to a positive clamp with a bias of 3 V (VBIAS = 3 V), the peak output voltage will be VOUT = 2VIN + VBIAS VOUT = 2 * 5 V + 3 V VOUT = 13 V Positive unbiased

A positive unbiased clamp - In the negative cycle of the input AC signal, the diode is forward biased and conducts, charging the capacitor to the peak positive value of VIN. During the positive cycle, the diode is reverse biased and thus does not conduct. The output voltage is therefore equal to the voltage stored in the capacitor plus the input voltage gain, so VOUT = 2VIN

Negative unbiased

A negative unbiased clamp- A negative unbiased clamp is the opposite of the equivalent positive clamp. In the positive cycle of the input AC signal, the diode is forward biased and conducts, charging the capacitor to the peak value of VIN. During the negative cycle, the diode is reverse biased and thus does not conduct. The output voltage is therefore equal to the voltage stored in the capacitor plus the input voltage again, so VOUT = -2VIN

Positive biased

A positive biased clamp - A positive biased voltage clamp is identical to an equivalent unbiased clamp but with the output voltage offset by the bias amount VBIAS. Thus, VOUT = 2VIN + VBIAS

Negative biased

A negative biased clamp - A negative biased voltage clamp is likewise identical to an equivalent unbiased clamp but with the output voltage offset in the negative direction by the bias amount VBIAS. Thus, VOUT = -2VIN VBIAS

Op-amp circuit

Precision op-amp clamp circuit - The figure shows an op-amp clamp circuit with a non-zero reference clamping voltage. The advantage here is that the clamping level is at precisely the reference voltage. There is no need to take into account the forward volt drop of the diode (which is necessary in the preceding simple circuits as this adds to the reference voltage). The effect of the diode volt drop on the circuit output will be divided down by the gain of the amplifier, resulting in an insignificant error. Clamping for input protection - Clamping can be used to adapt an input signal to a device that cannot make use of or may be damaged by the signal range of the original input. ]Principles of operation - The schematic of a clamper reveals that it is a relatively simple device. The two components creating the clamping effect are a capacitor, followed by a diode in parallel with the load. The clamper circuit relies on a change in the capacitors time constant; this is the result of the diode changing current path with the changing input voltage. The magnitude of R and C are chosen so that is large enough to ensure that the voltage across the capacitor does not discharge significantly during the diode's "Non conducting" interval. During the first negative phase of the AC input voltage, the capacitor in the positive clamper charges rapidly. As Vin becomes positive, the capacitor serves as a voltage doubler; since it has stored the equivalent of Vin during the negative cycle, it provides nearly that voltage during the positive cycle; this essentially doubles the voltage seen by the load. As Vin becomes negative, the capacitor acts as a battery of the same voltage of Vin. The voltage source and the capacitor counteract each other, resulting in a net voltage of zero as seen by the load. Biased versus non-biased - By using a voltage source and resistor, the clamper can be biased to bind the output voltage to a different value. The voltage supplied to the potentiometer will be equal to the offset from zero (assuming an ideal diode) in the case of either a positive or negative clamper (the clamper type will determine the direction of the offset. If a negative voltage is supplied to either positive or negative, the waveform will cross the x-axis and be bound to a value of this magnitude on the opposite side. Zener diodes can also be used in place of a voltage source and potentiometer, hence setting the offset at the Zener voltage.

APPLICATION
CLIPPER - Clippers are used in rectification process that is to convert ac to dc. clippers are also used in wave shaping. It is used in television sets and FM receivers. It is also used for amplifiers and different types of op-amps through which it is possible to perform mathematical operations. Diode clipper can be used for the protection of different types of circuit. For example: a digital circuit against transients which may cause considerable damage.

CLAMPER- One common such clamping circuit is the DC restorer circuit in analog television receiver, which returns the voltage of the signal during the back porch of the line blanking period to 0 V. Since the back porch is required to be at 0 V on transmission, any DC or low frequency hum that has been induced onto the signal can be effectively removed via this method. CENTER TAPPED FULL WAVE- In a rectifier, a center-tapped transformer and two diodes can form a full-wave rectifier that allows both half-cycles of the AC waveform to contribute to the direct current, making it smoother than a half-wave rectifier. This form of circuit saves on rectifier diodes compared to adiode bridge, but has poorer utilization of the transformer windings. Center-tapped two-diode rectifiers were a common feature of power supplies in vacuum tube equipment. Modern semiconductor diodes are low-cost and compact so usually a 4-diode bridge is used (up to a few hundred watts total output) which produces the same quality of DC as the center-tapped configuration with a more compact and cheaper power transformer. Center-tapped configurations may still be used in high-current applications, such as large automotive batterychargers, where the extra transformer cost is offset by less costly rectifiers. Center-tapped transformers are also used for dual-voltage power supplies. When a center-tapped transformer is combined with a bridge (four diode) rectifier, it is possible to produce a positive and a negative voltage with respect to a ground at the tap. Dual voltage supplies are important for all sorts of electronics equipment. In early vacuum tube audio amplifiers, center-tapped transformers were sometimes used as the phase inverter to drive the two output tubes of a push-pull stage. The technique is nearly as old as electronic amplification and is well documented, for example, in "The Radiotron Designer's Handbook, Third Edition" of 1940. This technique was carried over into transistor designs also, part of the reason for which was that capacitors were large, expensive and unreliable. However, since that era, capacitors have become vastly smaller, cheaper and more reliable, whereas transformers are still relatively expensive. Furthermore, as designers acquired more experience with transistors, they stopped trying to treat them like tubes. Coupling a class A intermediate amplification stage to a class AB power stage using a transformer doesn't make sense any more even in small systems powered from a single-voltage supply. Modern higher-end equipment is based on dual-supply designs which eliminates coupling. It is possible for an amplifier, from the input all the way to the loudspeaker, to be DC coupled without any capacitance or inductance.

In vacuum tube amplifiers, center-tapped transformers are used to couple a push-pull output stage to the speaker. This use is still relevant today because tubes and tube amplifiers continue to be produced for niche markets.

In analog telecommunications systems center-tapped transformers can be used to provide a DC path around an AC coupled amplifier for signalling purposes. Power distribution, see 3 wire single phase. The center-tapped rectifiers are preferred to the full bridge rectifier when the output DC current is high and the output voltage is low. Phantom power can be supplied to a condensor microphone using center tap transformers. One method, called "direct center tap" uses two center tap transformers, one at the microphone body and one at the microphone preamp. Filtered DC voltage is connected to the microphone preamp center tap, and the microphone body center tap is grounded through the cable shield. The second method uses the same center tap transformer topology at the microphone body, but at the microphone preamp, a matched pair of resistors spanning the signal lines in series creates an "artificial center tap"

FULL WAVE AND HALF WAVE RECTIFIER - The primary application of rectifiers is to derive DC power from an AC supply. Virtually all electronic devices require DC, so rectifiers find uses inside the power supplies of virtually all electronic equipment. Converting DC power from one voltage to another is much more complicated. One method of DC-to-DC conversion first converts power to AC (using a device called an inverter), then use a transformer to change the voltage, and finally rectifies power back to DC. Rectifiers also find a use in detection of amplitude modulated radio signals. The signal may be amplified before detection, but if un-amplified, a very low voltage drop diode must be used. When using a rectifier for demodulation the capacitor and load resistance must be carefully matched. Too low a capacitance will result in the high frequency carrier passing to the output and too high will result in the capacitor just charging and staying charged.

Output voltage of a full-wave rectifier with controlled thyristors Rectifiers are also used to supply polarised voltage for welding. In such circuits control of the output current is required and this is sometimes achieved by replacing some of the diodes inbridge rectifier with thyristors, whose voltage output can be regulated by means of phase fired controllers.

Thyristors are used in various classes of railway rolling stock systems so that fine control of the traction motors can be achieved. Gate turn-off thyristors are used to produce alternating current from a DC supply, for example on the Eurostar Trains to power the three-phase traction motors. BRIDGE RECTIFIER- Most bridge rectifiers are made up of four identical diodes. Diodes are electronic devices that conduct current in one direction only. Two diodes conduct during the positive half of the A.C. waveform, giving a positive voltage output. The other two diodes conduct during the negative half, but in the opposite direction, so it again outputs a positive voltage. The diamond-shaped connection arrangement is what electronics engineers call a bridge.

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