Wave shaping circuits using passive and active

components

 Clipping
 Clamping
About the experiment:

 Wave shaping in this experiment basically refers to either clipping of the

wave or clamping of the wave .
 We will be building clipper and clamper circuits using passive and active
components.
 Passive clipper and clamper circuits consist only of resistors, capacitors and
diodes whereas active circuits combine op-amps with the diodes.
Clipping and Clamping:

 Clipping of wave:
Limiting the input voltage at different levels.

 Clamping of wave:
Changing the DC level of the signal to the desired level without
changing the actual shape of the wave.
Passive clipper circuits:

 The basic operation of the circuit involves the biasing of the diodes.
 When the diode is forward biased, it allows current to pass through it
and thereby clamps the voltage.
 When the diode is reverse biased, no current flows through it and the
voltage across it is unaffected.
Some types of passive clippers:

 Positive clipper circuit:

Vout is clipped at offset voltage.

 Positive biased clipper circuit :

Vout is clipped at Vbias+offset volt.

 Double diode biased clipper circuit:

Vout is clipped at,
V1+offset on positive half cycle
-V2-offset on negative half cycle
Passive clamper circuits:

 If a signal loses its DC component while passing through a capacitive

coupling network, the clamper circuit can be used to restore the DC
component into the signal.
 The peak-peak and RMS value don’t change when passed through a
clamping circuit whereas the average and peak values do change.
Types of clamper circuits:

 Positive unbiased
 Negative unbiased
 Positive biased
 Negative biased
 Positive Unbiased:
In the negative cycle of the input AC signal, the diode is forward biased and
conducts, charging the capacitor to the peak negative value of VIN.
The output voltage is therefore equal to the voltage stored in the capacitor plus the
input voltage, so VOUT = VIN + VINpeak.
 Negative Unbiased:
A negative unbiased clamp is the opposite of the equivalent positive clamp.
The output voltage is therefore equal to the voltage stored in the capacitor plus the
input voltage again, so VOUT = VIN – VIN peak.
 Positive Biased :
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 = VIN + (VINpeak + VBIAS) .

Negative Biased :
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 = VIN - (VINpeak + VBIAS).
Positive active clamper:

 The first negative half cycle of the input signal produces a positive op-amp
output which turns the diode on creating a negative feedback loop in the
circuit.
 The capacitor charges to the peak value of the input and just beyond the
negative peak the diode turns off, feedback loop opens and virtual ground is
lost.
 Output voltage will be the sum of input voltage and peak capacitor voltage.
Active negative Clipper:

 In the positive half cycle of the input waveform, if Vin>Vref, the output
of the op-amp will be negative and the diode becomes reverse biased.
Hence the loop is broken and the output voltage will be the same as
input voltage.
 For the negative half cycle, the output of the opamp is positive and the
diode is forward biased and hence a negative feedback exists in the
circuit and the output voltage will be equal to the reference voltage.
Advantages of active circuits over
passive…
 The advantage of active circuits is that the clamping level is at precisely the
reference voltage without taking into note the forward volt drop.
 The circuit also has a great improvement in linearity at small input signals in
comparison to the simple diode circuit.
Applications:
 Clippers
 Limitation of excessive noise spikes
using series clippers.
 Half wave rectifier.
 Voltage limiters and amplitude
selectors.
 Clampers
 Clamp the waveforms to a fixed DC
potential.
 For the protection of the amplifiers
from large errant signals
 Clampers can be used for removing
the distortions.
 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.
