Republic of the Philippines

Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

ECEN 3364-INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS AND PLC APPLICATIONS

Group Members BEN B. ANDRES, DEM, PECE

Asis, Anthony Professor
Cabuenas, John Ernann
Enoy, Kevin Roy
Estonido, Mar Daniel
Ramirez, Martin John
Panganiban, Vince Rating

EXPERIMENT NO. 2

SILICON – CONTROLLED RECTIFIERS

I. OBJECTIVES:
1. To become familiar with the structure, operation, characteristics, parameters, and
applications of SCR.
2. To show how ac current to a load can be controlled by an SCR, depending on what
portion of the positive alternation of a sine wave the SCR turns on.
II. DISCUSSION:
An SCR is a three terminal, three junctions, four layer semiconductor device that is
designed to perform switching function. SCRs with voltage rating 2,500 and current
ratings 2,500 A are common in rectifier, lighting and motor control circuits.
Structure, Equivalent Circuit and Schematic Symbol of SCR
Figure 1.1

Anode (A)

P
N
P
Gate (G) N

Cathode (K)
a) Structure b) Equivalent Transistor Circuit c) Schematic Symbol

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Republic of the Philippines
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

Operation of an SCR
An SCR is a bipolar device that is normally forward biased with a positive voltage applied to the
anode and a negative voltage applied to the cathode. However, the SCR will not conduct unless a
positive voltage is applied to the gate lead.
Figure 1.2
+VAA= 12 +VAA= 12 +VAA= 12

RL= 100 Ω RL= 100 Ω RL= 100 Ω

RA = RA = RA =
22K Ω 22K Ω 22K Ω

P J1 fwd P J1 fwd P J1 fwd

bias bias bias
N N N
J2 rev J2 rev J2 rev
P P bias P
bias bias
J3 fwd RG = 10K Ω J3 fwd RG = 10K Ω N J3 fwd
RG = 10K Ω N
N bias
bias bias

Current-Voltage Characteristic of an SCR

When the gate voltage is removed, the SCR continues conducting and the gate loses control over
the current flowing through the SCR. Sufficient gate current must flow to turn on the SCR, and the
minimum holding current is what keeps the SCR conducting.
Figure 1.3

+
High Current
(on condition)
Forward
Regenerative Breakover
Action Voltage
Holding
Current

-
Reverse
Reverse Blocking
Breakover Current
Voltage
AC Triggering of an SCR

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Republic of the Philippines
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

Figure 1.4

0o 90o 180o 270o 360o

RA
RL
current through the load

12 VRMS
RG
at60 Hz SCR
SCR SCR on
off

SCR
a) Resistive Triggering Time= 0o to 90o off

0o 90o 180o 270o 360o

RL RA

current through the load

RG
12 VRMS
at 60 Hz
SCR
CG SCR
SCR on
off

SCR
off
b) RC Triggering Time= 0o to 180o

SCR Definition
The following definitions are some of the more commonly used terms associated
with SCR’s and thyristors in general.
Table 1.1
V AA Supply voltage connected to the anode
V AA Voltage from anode to ground
VG Voltage from gate to anode
V AK Voltage from anode to cathode
VF Forward voltage across anode and cathode when the thyristor is conducting
V BO Forward breakover voltage with the gate open, also indicates maximum
allowable voltage from cathode to anode for specific thyristor
V D ROM Repetitive peak off-state voltage with the gate open, similar to V BO . But includes
only repetitive transient voltage

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

PRV Peak reverse voltage; maximum allowable reverse voltage from cathode to anode
of the thyristor
PIV Peak inverse voltage, the same as PRV
V RROM Repetitive peak inverse voltage with the gate open similar to PRV, but include
only repetitive transient voltage
IF Forward current flowing from cathode to anode when the thyristor is on
I F (off ) Forward blocking current from cathode to anode when the thyristor is off
IH Holding current: the minimum current from cathode to anode required to keep
the thyristor on
IR Reverse current flowing from the anode to cathode when the thyristor is reversed
biased
I T (rms ) Effective (rms) forward current when the thyristor is conducting
I TSM Allowable short time duration current (nonrepetitive) when the thyristor is
conducting
I¿ Minimum gate trigger current required to switch the thyristor from off condition
to on condition
Dv/dt Critical rate of rise – the rate of voltage change applied to the anode or main
terminal of the device in the off state which, if exceed, may switch the device on.

SCR Applications
A few of the possible applications:
1) Static switch 5- Single source emergency lighting
2) Phase control system system
3) Battery charger
4 Temperature controller
III.MATERIALS NEEDED:
1-Variable DC power supply 1-CA06y1 SCR or equivalent
1-12-V rms transformer of ac source 1-100Ω resistor at 0.5 W (RL)
1-Oscilloscope (use only one channel) 1-1kΩ resistor at 0.5 W (RA)
1-VOM 1-500kΩ potentiometer (RG)
1-Miniature Lamp (LP) 1-0.2uF capacitor at 25WV dc (CG)
1-Switch, PBNO (SW1) 1-Breadboard for constructing circuit
1-1N4001 diode or equivalent

IV. PROCEDURES:
Part I. A DC supply voltage is used to observe the gating action of the SCR.
1. Assemble the Circuit as shown if Figure 1.5

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

Figure 1.5

__

2. Momentarily depress SW1 which connect the gate terminal to the

power source. Does the lamp lit? ___NO__________

3. Does the lamp remain on after one pulse of the PBNO switch?___Yes_____
Explain your answer. _The lamp remain on after one pulse of the PBNO
because the load meet the latching current that’s why it’s remain
lit.____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

4. Reverse the power source polarity of the circuit shown in Figure 1.5
Does the lamp lit? ____No_________

5. Trigger the gate of the SCR by momentarily depressing SW1.

Does the lamp lit? ____No_________
Explain your answer. _Because SCR is normally forward biased with a positive voltage
applied to the anode and a negative voltage applied to the cathode. However, the SCR will
not conduct unless a positive voltage is applied to the gate lead.

Part II.This part of the experiment uses only a variable resistance to vary the trigger time
from 0° to 90°. An oscilloscope is used to view the voltage waveforms across the SCR
and RL.
6. Construct the circuit shown in Figure 1.4a

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

7. Place the oscilloscope across the SCR. Vary R G back and forth and view the
voltage waveform across the SCR.

8. Adjust RG so that the SCR triggers about halfway between 0° to 90°.

9. Draw the voltage waveform across the SCR in the space provided, making
sure to align it with the proper degree for two cycles. (Indicate peak to peak
voltage)
WAVEFORM ACROSS RL

WAVEFORM ACROSS SCR

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

10. Place the oscilloscope across RL.

11. Draw the voltage waveform across RL in the space provided, making sure to
align it with the proper degree for two cycles.

Part III. A capacitor and diode are added to the original circuit to complete the second
part of the experiment. The capacitor extends the trigger to nearly 180°, and the
diode produces a sharper current pulse when it conducts, to provide more
trigger control.

12. Modify the circuit as shown in Figure 1.4b by adding the capacitor and diode.

13. Place the oscilloscope across the SCR.

14. Vary RG back and forth and view the voltage waveform across SCR. Adjust
RG so that the SCR triggers past 90°, but not at the 180°.

15. Draw the voltage waveform across the SCR in the space provided, making
sure to align it with the proper degrees for two cycles.
WAVEFORM ACROSS RL

WAVEFORM ACROSS SCR

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

22. Place the Oscilloscope across RL

23. Draw the voltage waveform across RL in the space provided making sure to
align it with the proper degrees for two cycles.

V. OBSERVATION:
We observed that the SCR is good in switching and converting AC to DC and SCR acts
exclusively as a bistable switch, conducting when the gate receives a current trigger, and
continuing to conduct while the voltage across the device is not reversed.
In addition, in the normal “off ” state the device restricts current flow to the leakage current.
When the gate to cathode voltage exceeds a certain threshold, the circuit turns “on and
conducts current. The circuit will remain in the “on” state even after the gate current is
removed so long as current through the circuit remains above the holding cureent. Once
current fall below the holding current the circuit ill switch off.
VI. CONCLUSION
Based in the experiment, gate current will flow during the positive portion of the input
signals thereby turning the SCR on since anode to cathode connection is forward biased. For
the negative region of the input signal, SCR turns off because the anode is negative with
respect to the cathode. The diode prevents a reversal in the gate current. While Potentiometer
controls the gate triggering current, and the amplitude of the firing voltage, thus also
controlling the conduction time diode with 0 to 90 degree retard and 90 to 180 degree
conduction angle.

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

III. QUESTIONS:
1. Why would it be impossible to trigger an SCR if it was installed in a DC circuit with
incorrect polarity to the anode and cathode?
Answer: ______It impossible to trigger an SCR if it was installed in a DC circuit with
incorrect polarity to the anode and cathode because SCR only switch when positive voltage is
applied on it's gate and AC is easy to control its polarity. Also SCR is a diode that only allow
the flow when positive in anode and negative voltage on
cathode.___________________________________________________________________
2. What is the purpose of RA in the circuit of figure 1.4a-b?
Answer: The purpose of resistor (RA) in the circuit in figure is that it place because it
provide sufficient gate current to turn the SCR circuit
on.___________________________________________
3. What is the purpose of D1 in the circuit of Figure 1.4b?
Answer: The purpose of diode(D1) in the circuit in figure the diode blocks the negative
polarity to the gate._________________________________________________________
4. Give five (5) applications of SCR Draw the circuit diagram and briefly describe the
operation.

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

1. DC Power Control using SCR Circuit Operation

HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
During the negative half cycle of the AC input signal, the
SCR is reverse biased. Hence, no current flows through
the load.

During the negative half cycle of the input, SCR is

forward biased. If the resistor is varied such that the
minimum triggering current is applied to the gate, then
the SCR is turned ON. Hence the current starts flowing to
the load.

If the gate current is higher, the supply voltage at which

the SCR is turned ON will be lesser. The angle at which
the SCR starts conducting is referred as firing angle. For
this rectifier circuit, firing angle can be varied during the
positive half cycle only.

Therefore, by varying the firing angle or gate current (by

changing the resistance in this circuit), it is possible to
make the SCR conduct part or full positive half cycle so
that the average power fed to the load get varied.

2. DC Power Control using SCR Circuit Operation

FULL WAVE RECTIFIER In a full wave rectifier, both positive and negative wave of
the input supply are rectified. Hence, compared to the half
wave rectifier, the average value of the DC voltage is high
and also ripple content is less. The below figure shows the
full wave rectifier circuit consisting of two SCRs connected
with centre tapped transformer.

• During the positive half cycle of the input, SCR1 is

forward biased and SCR2 is reverse biased. By applying the
proper gate signal, SCR1 is turned ON and hence load
current starts flowing through it.

• During the negative half cycle of the input, SCR2 is

forward biased and SCR1 is reverse biased. With a gate
triggering, SCR2 is turned ON and hence the load current
flows through the SCR2.Therefore, by varying the triggering
current to the SCRs, the average power delivered to the load
is varied.

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

3. DC Power Switching Circuit Operation

A simple example of a thyristor controlling a DC load, such
as a small DC motor is illustrated in Fig 6.1.1. The motor
here is connected to a 12V DC supply via a BT151 thyristor,
but will not run until the thyristor is made to conduct. This is
achieved by momentarily closing the 'start' switch, which
provides a pulse of current to the gate terminal of the
thyristor. The motor now runs as the thyristor switches on
and its resistance is now very low. When the start switch
returns to its normally open state, there is no longer any gate
current but the thyristor continues to conduct, and in a DC
circuit, current will continue to flow and the motor continues
to run. Any further operations of the start switch now have
no effect. The thyristor will only switch off if current flow
reduces to a value below the thyristor's holding current
threshold.This is achieved by shorting out the thyristor by
momentarily closing the 'stop' switch. The circuit current
now flows through the stop switch rather than through the
thyristor, which instantly turns off, as the SCR current is
now reduced to less than the holding current value. Stopping
the motor could also be achieved by using a normally closed
switch in series with the thyristor, which when pressed,
would also temporarily prevent current flow through the
thyristor long enough for the thyristor to turn off.

4. DC Circuit Breaker Circuit Operation

Capacitor C proÂvides the required commutation of the
main SCR since the curÂrent does not have a natural zero
value in a dc circuit. When the SCR1 is in conducting state,
the load voltage will be equal to the supply voltage and the
capacitor C will be charged through resisÂtor R. The circuit
is broken by turning-off SCR1. This is done by firing SCR 2,
called the auxiliary SCR. Capacitor C discharges through
SCR2 and SCR1. This discharge current is in opposite
direction to that flowing through SCR 1 and when the two
become equal SCR2 turns-off. Now capacitor C gets charged
through the load and when the capacitor C gets fully
charged, the SCR2 tums-off. Thus the circuit acts as a dc
circuit breaker. The resistor R is taken of such a value that
current through R is lower than that of holding current.

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

5.Zero Voltage Switching Circuit Operation

 This is to avoid a high rate of increase of current in case
of purely resistive loads such as lighting and furnace loads,
and thereby reduce the generation of radio noise and hot-
spot temperatures in the device carrying the load current.
The circuit to achieve this is shown in circuit. Only half-
wave control is used here. The portion of the circuit shown
by the dotted lines relates to the negative half cycle.
Whatever may be the instant of time when switch S is
opened (either during the positive or the negative half cycle),
only at the beginning of the following positive half-cycle of
the applied voltage SCR1 will be triggered. Similarly, when
switch S is closed, SCR 1 will stop conducting at the end of
the present or previous positive half-cycle and will not get
triggered again. Resistors R3 and R4 are designed on the
basis of minimum base and gate currents required for
transistor Q1 and SCR1. Resistors Rl and R2 govern rates of
the charging and discharging of capacitor C1 Resistor R5 is
used for preventing large discharge currents when switch S
is closed.

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (ECE) DEPARTMENT

6. SCR Crowbar Circuits Circuit Operation

Used as an over voltage protection device. The circuit is called a
crowbar as its action is about as subtle as a swift blow with a
crowbar. Such circuits may often be found preventing power
supply circuits from outputting a higher than normal voltage under
fault conditions. The basic idea is that if, for example a fault in a
DC power supply line causes the output to rise above its specified
voltage value, this 'over voltage' is sensed and causes a normally
non conducting SCR connected between the power supply output
and ground to switch on very rapidly. This can have different
protective actions, the simplest of which is to blow a fuse and so
switch off the power completely.

This is often chosen as the safest option as the cause of the original
over voltage should be examined and eliminated before the circuit
is allowed to work again.In circuit the output of a regulated 5V DC
supply is sensed by D1, a 6.2V Zener diode, the anode of which is
held at a voltage close to 0V by R1. This 100Ω resistor ensures that
if the 5V supply line rises above its specified limit, sufficient
current flows through the Zener diode to provide enough current at
the SCR gate to switch on the SCR. Care must also be taken to
ensure that the SCR is not triggered accidentally by any fast
voltage spikes appearing on the 5V line, due for example to other
switching devices in the circuit being supplied. C1 is therefore
connected between the gate and cathode of the SCR to reduce the
amplitude of any very short interference pulses, provided they do
not exist long enough to charge C1 to a high enough level to trigger
the SCR.

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