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144 C H A P T E R 4 Full-Wave Rectifiers

Power delivered to the bridge is then reduced to

Pbridge  (107.5)(5.0)  537.5 W
Average current in each SCR is one-half the average load current. Power absorbed by
each SCR is approximately
1 1
PSCR  ISCRVSCR  IoVSCR  (5)(1)  2.5 W
2 2
Total power loss in the bridge is then 4(2.5)  10 W, and power delivered to the ac source
is 537.5  10  527.5 W.

4.4 THREE-PHASE RECTIFIERS

Three-phase rectifiers are commonly used in industry to produce a dc voltage and
current for large loads. The three-phase full-bridge rectifier is shown in Fig. 4-16a.
The three-phase voltage source is balanced and has phase sequence a-b-c. The
source and the diodes are assumed to be ideal in the initial analysis of the circuit.

+
–
v D1 D1 D3 D5
ia
+
a
b Load vo
Van
+ Vbn c
+ Vcn
− +
− D4 D6 D2
−
–
n
(a)
an bn cn an bn cn iD
iD1
Source iD2

vo iD3
ab ac bc ba ca cb ab ac bc ba iD4
6.1 1.2 2.3 3.4 4.5 5.6 6.1
iD5
iD6
Bridge
ωt
ia

v D1
ωt = 0 π 2π
– —
3 3
(b) (c)

Figure 4-16 (a) Three-phase full-bridge rectifier; (b) Source and output voltages; (c) Currents for a
resistive load.
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4.4 Three-Phase Rectifiers 145

Some basic observations about the circuit are as follows:

1. Kirchhoff’s voltage law around any path shows that only one diode in the
top half of the bridge may conduct at one time (D1, D3, or D5). The diode
that is conducting will have its anode connected to the phase voltage that is
highest at that instant.
2. Kirchhoff’s voltage law also shows that only one diode in the bottom half of
the bridge may conduct at one time (D2, D4, or D6). The diode that is
conducting will have its cathode connected to the phase voltage that is
lowest at that instant.
3. As a consequence of items 1 and 2 above, D1 and D4 cannot conduct at the
same time. Similarly, D3 and D6 cannot conduct simultaneously, nor can D5
and D2.
4. The output voltage across the load is one of the line-to-line voltages of the
source. For example, when D1 and D2 are on, the output voltage is vac.
Furthermore, the diodes that are on are determined by which line-to-line
voltage is the highest at that instant. For example, when vac is the highest
line-to-line voltage, the output is vac.
5. There are six combinations of line-to-line voltages (three phases taken two
at a time). Considering one period of the source to be 360, a transition of
the highest line-to-line voltage must take place every 360/6  60. Because
of the six transitions that occur for each period of the source voltage, the
circuit is called a six-pulse rectifier.
6. The fundamental frequency of the output voltage is 6, where  is the
frequency of the three-phase source.
Figure 4-16b shows the phase voltages and the resulting combinations of
line-to-line voltages from a balanced three-phase source. The current in each of
the bridge diodes for a resistive load is shown in Fig. 4-16c. The diodes conduct
in pairs (6,1), (1,2), (2,3), (3,4), (4,5), (5,6), (6,1), . . . . Diodes turn on in the
sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, . . . .
The current in a conducting diode is the same as the load current. To deter-
mine the current in each phase of the source, Kirchhoff’s current law is applied
at nodes a, b, and c,
i a  i D1  i D4
i b  i D3  i D6 (4-40)
i c  i D5  i D2
Since each diode conducts one-third of the time, resulting in
1
ID, avg  Io, avg
3
1
ID, rms  I (4-41)
13 o, rms
2
Is, rms  Io, rms
A3
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146 C H A P T E R 4 Full-Wave Rectifiers

The apparent power from the three-phase source is

S  13 VLL, rms IS, rms (4-42)
The maximum reverse voltage across a diode is the peak line-to-line voltage.
The voltage waveform across diode D1 is shown in Fig. 4-16b. When D1 con-
ducts, the voltage across it is zero. When D1 is off, the output voltage is vab when
D3 is on and is vac when D5 is on.
The periodic output voltage is defined as vo(t)  Vm,LL sin(t) for /3 
t  2/3 with period /3 for the purpose of determining the Fourier series
coefficients. The coefficients for the sine terms are zero from symmetry, enabling
the Fourier series for the output voltage to be expressed as
q

vo(t)  Vo  a Vn cos (n0t  ) (4-43)

n6,12,18 Á

The average or dc value of the output voltage is

2>3
1 3V
V0  V sin (t) d(t)  m, LL  0.955 Vm, LL (4-44)
>3 3 m, LL 
>3
where Vm,LL is the peak line-to-line voltage of the three-phase source, which is
22VLL, rms. The amplitudes of the ac voltage terms are
6Vm, LL
Vn  n  6, 12, 18, Á (4-45)
(n 2  1)
Since the output voltage is periodic with period one-sixth of the ac supply volt-
age, the harmonics in the output are of order 6k, k  1, 2, 3 . . . An advantage
of the three-phase rectifier over the single-phase rectifier is that the output is
inherently like a dc voltage, and the high-frequency low-amplitude harmonics
enable filters to be effective.
In many applications, a load with series inductance results in a load current
that is essentially dc. For a dc load current, the diode and ac line currents are
shown in Fig. 4-17. The Fourier series of the currents in phase a of the ac line is
223 1 1 1 1
i a(t) I acos 0t  cos 50t  cos 70t  cos 110t  cos 130t  Á b (4-46)
 o 5 7 11 13

which consists of terms at the fundamental frequency of the ac system and har-
monics of order 6k  1, k  1, 2, 3, . . . .
Because these harmonic currents may present problems in the ac system, fil-
ters are frequently necessary to prevent these harmonics from entering the ac sys-
tem. A typical filtering scheme is shown in Fig. 4-18. Resonant filters are used to
provide a path to ground for the fifth and seventh harmonics, which are the two
lowest and are the strongest in amplitude. Higher-order harmonics are reduced
with the high-pass filter. These filters prevent the harmonic currents from propa-
gating through the ac power system. Filter components are chosen such that the
impedance to the power system frequency is large.
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4.4 Three-Phase Rectifiers 147

io

iD1
iD2
iD3
iD4
iD5
iD6

ia

ib

ic

Figure 4-17 Three-phase rectifier currents when the output is

filtered.

EXAMPLE 4-12

Three-Phase Rectifier
The three-phase rectifier of Fig. 4-16a has a three-phase source of 480 V rms line-to-line,
and the load is a 25- resistance in series with a 50-mH inductance. Determine (a) the dc
level of the output voltage, (b) the dc and first ac term of the load current, (c) the average
and rms current in the diodes, (d) the rms current in the source, and (e) the apparent power
from the source.
■ Solution
(a) The dc output voltage of the bridge is obtained from Eq. (4-44).

3Vm, LL 322 (480)

Vo    648 V
 

φ Conductor
AC 6-Pulse
System Converter
(Each Phase)

5th 7th High Pass

Figure 4-18 Filters for ac line harmonics.

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148 C H A P T E R 4 Full-Wave Rectifiers

(b) The average load current is

Vo 648
Io    25.9 A
R 25
The first ac voltage term is obtained from Eq. (4-45) with n  6, and current is
V6 0.0546Vm 0.054612(480) 37.0 V
I6      0.32 A
Z6 1R2  (6L)2 1252  [6(377)(0.05)]2 115.8 Æ
0.32
I6, rms   0.23 A
12
This and other ac terms are much smaller than the dc term and can be neglected.
(c) Average and rms diode currents are obtained from Eq. (4-41). The rms load current
is approximately the same as average current since the ac terms are small.
I 25.9
ID, avg  o   8.63 A
3 3
Io, rms 25.9
ID, rms  L  15.0 A
13 13
(d) The rms source current is also obtained from Eq. (4-41).
2 2
Is, rms  a bI a b 25.9  21.2 A
A 3 o, rms
L
A3
(e) The apparent power from the source is determined from Eq. (4-42).
S  23(VLL, rms)(Is, rms)  23 (480)(21.2)  17.6 kVA

PSpice Solution
A circuit for this example is shown in Fig. 4-19a. VSIN is used for each of the sources.
Dbreak, with the model changed to make n  0.01, approximates an ideal diode.
A transient analysis starting at 16.67 ms and ending at 50 ms represents steady-state
currents.

THREE-PHASE RECTIFIER
out+
PARAMETERS:
Vrms = 480
D1 D3 D5
A Dbreak Dbreak Dbreak
B R1
25
C 1
VA VB VC L1
+ + +
– – – 50m
D4 D6 D2
Dbreak Dbreak Dbreak 2
0 PHASE = –120 PHASE = –240 out–
VOFF = 0
VAMPL = [Vrms*sqrt(2/3)]
FREQ = 60
PHASE = 0
(a)

Figure 4-19 (a) PSpice circuit for a three-phase rectifier; (b) Probe output showing
the current waveform and the Fourier analysis in one phase of the source.
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4.5 Controlled Three-Phase Rectifiers 149

40 A
SOURCE PHASE CURRENT

0A

–40 A
10 ms 20 ms 30 ms 40 ms 50 ms
I (VA)
Time
30 A
(60.006, 28.606)
20 A n=1
(300.030, 5.7521) (420.042, 4.0529)
10 A n=5 n=7
SEL>> n = 11 n = 13
0A
0 Hz 200 Hz 400 Hz 600 Hz 800 Hz
I (VA)
Frequency
(b)

Figure 4-19 (continued)

All the circuit currents as calculated above can be verified. The Probe output
in Fig. 4-19b shows the current and Fourier (FFT) components in one of the
sources. Note that the harmonics correspond to those in Eq. (4-46).

4.5 CONTROLLED THREE-PHASE RECTIFIERS

The output of the three-phase rectifier can be controlled by substituting SCRs for
diodes. Figure 4-20a shows a controlled six-pulse three-phase rectifier. With
SCRs, conduction does not begin until a gate signal is applied while the SCR is
forward-biased. Thus, the transition of the output voltage to the maximum in-
stantaneous line-to-line source voltage can be delayed. The delay angle  is ref-
erenced from where the SCR would begin to conduct if it were a diode. The delay
angle is the interval between when the SCR becomes forward-biased and when
the gate signal is applied. Figure 4-20b shows the output of the controlled recti-
fier for a delay angle of 45.
The average output voltage is
2>3
1 3Vm, LL
Vo  Vm, LL sin (t) d(t)  cos  (4-47)
>3 3 
>3

Equation (4-47) shows that the average output voltage is reduced as the delay
angle  increases.
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150 C H A P T E R 4 Full-Wave Rectifiers

S1 S3 S5
+
Aφ Bφ Cφ Load vo
–
S4 S6 S2

(a)
α

vo

ωt

(b)

Figure 4-20 (a) A controlled three-phase rectifier; (b) Output

voltage for   45.

Harmonics for the output voltage remain of order 6k, but the amplitudes
are functions of . Figure 4-21 shows the first three normalized harmonic
amplitudes.

EXAMPLE 4-13

A Controlled Three-Phase Rectifier

A three-phase controlled rectifier has an input voltage which is 480 V rms at 60 Hz. The
load is modeled as a series resistance and inductance with R  10  and L  50 mH.
(a) Determine the delay angle required to produce an average current of 50 A in the
load. (b) Determine the amplitude of harmonics n  6 and n  12.

■ Solution
(a) The required dc component in the bridge output voltage is
Vo  Io R  (50)(10)  500 V
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4.5 Controlled Three-Phase Rectifiers 151

0.4

n=6

0.3
Vn /Vm

0.2
n = 12

n = 18
0.1

0.0
0 40 80 120 160 200
Delay Angle (degrees)

Figure 4-21 Normalized output voltage harmonics as a

function of delay angle for a three-phase rectifier.

Equation (4-47) is used to determine the required delay angle:

Vo 500
  cos 1 a b  cos 1 a b  39.5°
3Vm, LL 312(480)
(b) Amplitudes of harmonic voltages are estimated from the graph in Fig. 4-21. For
  39.5, normalized harmonic voltages are V6 /Vm L 0.21 and V12 /Vm L 0.10.
Using Vm  12(480), V6  143 V, and V12  68 V, harmonic currents are then

V6 143
I6    1.26 A
Z6 110 2  [6(377)(0.05)]2
V12 68
I12    0.30 A
Z12 110  [12(377)(0.05)]2
2

Twelve-Pulse Rectifiers
The three-phase six-pulse bridge rectifier shows a marked improvement in the
quality of the dc output over that of the single-phase rectifier. Harmonics of
the output voltage are small and at frequencies that are multiples of 6 times the
source frequency. Further reduction in output harmonics can be accomplished by