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COURSE NAME: ELECTRONIC DEVICES LAB
EXPERIMENT TITLE: STUDY OF DIODE RECTIFIERS.
SOLVED BY
Rahman, Md. Sahebur
Title: Study of Diode Rectifiers.
Abstract: The goal of this experiment was to learn, how rectifier diodes convert an ac voltage to a dc
voltage. The theory of Half wave rectification, full wave rectification and full wave center trapped
rectification were clearly discussed in this experiment. Rectifier diodes are used to make dc voltage from
ac voltage where there is a positive peak as well as a negative peak converted into only positive peak and
a ground. To make the direct current more stable, capacitor is used in this experiment. After applying
capacitor, the direct current looks more stable in the oscilloscope which is shown in this experiment.
Introduction:
Objectives: Study of half wave and full wave rectifiers.
Theory And Methodology:
Several types of Diode rectifiers circuit can convert AC voltage to DC voltage, they are Half-wave rectifier,
Full-wave bridge rectifier and Center tapped Full-wave rectifier.
However, a rectifier cannot generate a steady DC voltage. Therefore, a filter circuit is followed by the
rectification block that produces a smooth output DC voltage. In this instance, the capacitor functions as
a smoothing filter to make the output voltage approximately dc. There will still be some voltage variation
because a filtering is imperfect. known as ripple, on the output voltage. An average or whereas the full-
wave rectified signal has an equivalent DC voltage level of 31.8% of the peak voltage half the half-wave
signal's average or DC level, or 63.6% of the peak value.
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Working of Half Wave Rectifier:
A half cycle of the applied AC voltage is all that is used in a half wave rectifier. There is no need for a
second negative half-cycle of AC voltage. There is only one diode, and it conducts only during positive
cycles. The following diagram depicts a half wave rectifier's circuit without a capacitor.
Figure 0: Half wave rectification
The diode's anode is positive in relation to its cathode during the positive half cycle of the input voltage.
As current flows through the forward-biased diode and across the load resistance RL, a positive cycle form.
Anode is minus with respect to cathode and diode is in reverse bias during the negative half cycle of the
input voltage. Diode output voltage is 0 since no current flows through it.
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Working Principle of Full-Wave rectifier:
Bridge rectifiers use both of the input ac voltage's half cycles to convert ac voltage to dc voltage. The
following diagram depicts the bridge rectifier circuit.
Figure 1: D1 and D2 are forward-biased and conduct current. D3 and D4 are reverse-biased, during
positive half-cycle of the input.
Figure 2: D3 and D4 are forward-biased and conduct current. D1 and D2 are reverse-biased, during
negative half-cycle of the input.
A bridge formed by four diodes is included in the circuit. The bridge's diagonally opposed ends are
subjected to the ac input voltage. The other two ends of the bridge are connected by the load resistance.
For the Department of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)
2, during the positive half cycle of the input ac voltage, diodes D1 and D2 conduct while diodes D3 and D4
remain in the OFF state. Since the load resistance, RL, and the conducting diodes are connected in series,
the load current passes through RL. The input ac voltage's negative half-cycle causes the diodes D3 and
D4 to conduct, but D1 and D2 do not. Since the load resistance RL will be connected in series with the
conducting diodes D3 and D4, the current flowing through RL will be the same as it was during the previous
half cycle. Consequently, a wave that was once bidirectional becomes unidirectional.
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Working Principle of Center Tapped Full-Wave rectifier:
As seen in the image below, a center tapped rectifier is a type of full wave rectifier that employs two
diodes coupled to the secondary of a center tapped transformer. The transformer couples the input
voltage to the center-tapped secondary. The center tap and each end of the secondary winding are where
half of the total secondary voltage is visible as indicated.
Figure 3: The full wave rectifier, as depicted in the above diagram, transforms the incoming AC signal's
positive and negative half cycles into a pulsing DC signal.
The AC source is connected to the primary winding of the center tapped transformer. A center tap
(additional wire) connected at the exact middle of the secondary winding divides the input voltage into
two parts. The upper part of the secondary winding is connected to the diode D1 and the lower part of
the secondary winding is connected to the diode D2. Both diode D1 and diode D2 are connected to a
common load RL with the help of a center tap transformer. The center tap is generally considered as the
ground point or the zero-voltage reference point.
During the positive half cycle of the input AC signal, terminal A become positive, terminal B become
negative and center tap is grounded (zero volts). The positive terminal A is connected to the p-side of the
diode D1 and the negative terminal B is connected to the n-side of the diode D1. So the diode D1 is forward
biased during the positive half cycle and allows electric current through it.
On the other hand, the negative terminal B is connected to the p-side of the diode D2 and the positive
terminal A is connected to the n-side of the diode D2. So the diode D2 is reverse biased during the positive
half cycle and does not allow electric current through it. The diode D1 supplies DC current to the load RL.
The DC current produced at the load RL will return to the secondary winding through a center tap.
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Apparatus:
No: Apparatus Quantity
1 Diode 4
2 10K resistor 1
3 Project Board 1
4 Oscilloscope 1
5 Multimeter 1
6 Transformer 220 to 6-0-6 1
7 Capacitor 47uF 1
8 Capacitor 100uF 1
9 Chord 2
Circuit Diagram:
Figure 4: Shows circuit diagram of half wave rectification.
Figure 5: Shows circuit diagram of full wave center trapped rectification.
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Figure 6: Shows circuit diagram of full wave rectification.
Experimental Procedure:
1. The circuit was connected shown in the figure – 1 but without the capacitor.
2. The oscilloscope was connected to observe the wave shapes of the input and output voltages. The
peak DC voltage from the oscilloscope were measured.
3.The output voltage by Multimeter were measured and compared with the oscilloscope values.
4. The power supply was then turned off and a 47μF capacitor across the load was connected. Also the
output voltage was then measured with both multimeter and oscilloscope.
5.The output voltage with a Multimeter was measured and compared with the value from oscilloscope.
6. Again the power supply was switched off again and a 100uF capacitor was connected.
7. Procedure 4 and 5 was then repeated for necessary measurements.
8. Procedure 1 through 7 for circuits in figure 2 and 3 was repeat as well.
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Component Implements And Oscilloscope View:
Figure 7: Shows component implements of half wave rectification.
Figure 8: Shows component implements of full wave rectification.
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Figure 9: Shows component implements of center trapped full bridge rectification.
Figure 10: Shows oscilloscope view with capacitor(below one) and without capacitor(Upper one).
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Simulations:
Figure 11: Shows simulations of half wave rectification without any output capacitor, converted as 6V
AC to 2.461V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.961V DC.
Figure 12: Shows simulations of half wave rectification with output capacitor, converted as 6V AC to
7.719V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.869V DC.
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Figure 13: Shows simulations of half wave rectification with output capacitor, converted as 6V AC to
7.776V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.837V DC.
Figure 14: Shows simulations of full wave center trapped rectification without any output capacitor,
converted as 6V AC to 4.925V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.957V DC.
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Figure 15: Shows simulations of full wave center trapped rectification with output capacitor, converted
as 6V AC to 7.804V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.867V DC.
Figure 16: Shows simulations of full wave center trapped rectification output capacitor, converted as 6V
AC to 7.815V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.844V DC.
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Figure 17: Shows simulations of full wave rectification without any output capacitor, converted as 6V AC
to 4.464V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.435V DC.
Figure 18: Shows simulations of full wave rectification with output capacitor, converted as 6V AC to
7.187V DC and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.243V DC.
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Figure 19: Shows simulations of full rectification with output capacitor, converted as 6V AC to 7.192V DC
and oscilloscope max channel B voltage is 7.218V DC.
Data Table:
Data table for measured values:
Table 1: Data table for circuit in figure 4.
Capacitance Vo (Oscilloscope) VO(Multimeter)
No Capacitor 11.8 3.00
47uF 9.68 9.56
100uF 10.1 9.63
Table 2: Data table for circuit in figure 5.
Capacitance Vo (Oscilloscope) VO(Multimeter)
No Capacitor 10.56 6.00
47uF 10.30 10.08
100uF 10.30 10.09
Table 3: Data table for circuit in figure 6.
Capacitance Vo (Oscilloscope) VO(Multimeter)
No Capacitor 10.00 5.54
47uF 9.78 9.62
100uF 9.79 9.37
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Data table for simulated values:
Table 4: Data table for circuit in figure 4.
Capacitance Vo (Oscilloscope) VO(Multimeter)
No Capacitor 7.961 2.461
47uF 7.869 7.719
100uF 7.837 7.766
Table 5: Data table for circuit in figure 5.
Capacitance Vo (Oscilloscope) VO(Multimeter)
No Capacitor 7.957 4.925
47uF 7.867 7.804
100uF 7.844 7.815
Table 6: Data table for circuit in figure 5.
Capacitance Vo (Oscilloscope) VO(Multimeter)
No Capacitor 7.435 4.464
47uF 7.243 7.187
100uF 7.218 7.192
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Questions @ Answers:
1. Draw all the observed wave shapes?
Answer: All the observed wave shapes are given below:
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2. What are the effects and significance of using filter capacitance?
Answer: Applying capacitor to the output make the output voltage greater compared to- no capacitor in
the output. Capacitor took the peak output voltage and store it for a millisecond as long as another ripple
comes from the output, in that case the voltage became stable and also increased.
3. What is the minimum PIV for the diodes used in circuit 2(figure 5) & 3(figure 6)?
Answer: PIV means peak inverse voltage which must be greater than input peak inverse voltage.
Otherwise, rectifier diodes will burn out. In circuit 2 and 3 in both cases diode must have PIV of greater
than peak input voltage which can be calculated by the following method:
Vpeak= Vrms/0.707 = 6/0.707= 8.4865 [ Vpeak less than or equal to PIV]
So, PIV of diodes in circuit of figure 4 and 5 must be greater than 8.4865v [theoretically]
4. Why circuit 3(figure 6) is better than the circuit in figure 5?
Answer: First of all, full wave rectification is better than full wave center trapped rectification because the
efficiency in conversion is better in full wave rectification circuit. In center trapped transformer only half
of the coil at a time can deliver power for the rectification and another will be in reverse bias condition.
On the other hand, in full wave rectification circuit no transformer coil will be remain unused. So, it can
be state that circuit 3 is better than the circuit in figure 5.
Discussion And Conclusion:
In this experiment working principle of rectifier diodes was learned. In half wave rectification only the
positive ac peak voltage converted into dc. So that, the output direct current was not as good as full wave
rectification. In full wave rectification the out was better because it can take both positive and negative
peak. Also, the center trapped type rectification was learn in this experiment which has less conversion
rate. Because one of the coils must be in reverse bias during the another one in process. The electrolyte
capacitor was also used in this experiment. Because capacitor can store the peak the voltage and output
its power when needed. By using capacitor, it was noticeably visible to the oscilloscope that the output
direct current was far better compared to no use of capacitor.
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References:
1. Robert L. Boyleston, Louis Natinsky, Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, Ninth Edition, 2007-2008
2. Adel S. Sidra, Kenneth C. Smith, Microelectronic Circuits, Saunders College Publishing, 3rd ed., ISBN: 0-
03-051648-X, 1991.
3. American International University–Bangladesh (AIUB) Electronic Devices Lab Manual.
4. David J. Comer, Donald T. Comer, Fundamentals of Electronic Circuit Design, john Wiley & Sons
Canada, Ltd.; ISBN: 0471410160, 2002.
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https://www.physics-and-radio-electronics.com/electronic-devices-and-
circuits/rectifier/fullwaverectifier.html
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