INTRODUCTION

Electric circuits that convert AC to DC are known as rectifiers.

Rectifiers are classified into two types as Half Wave Rectifiers
and Full Wave Rectifiers. Significant power is lost while using
half-wave rectifiers and is not feasible for applications that need
a smooth and steady supply. For a more smooth and steady
supply, we use the full wave rectifiers. In this article, we will be
looking into the working and characteristics of a full wave
rectifier that converts the complete cycle of alternating current
into pulsating DC. Unlike half wave rectifiers that utilize the full
only the wave of the input AC cycle, full wave rectifier utilize the
full cycle. The lower efficiency of the half wave rectifier can be
overcome by the full wave rectifier. Full wave rectifier is a
rectifier that converts both the halves of each alternating wave
cycle (Alternate Current signal) into a pulsating DC (Direct
Current) signal. Electric circuits that are used for the
conversation of AC to DC are known as rectifiers. There are two
types of rectifier that are, Full Wave Rectifier and Half Wave
rectifier. Full-wave rectifiers are used for a smoother and
steady supply instead of half-wave rectifier as significant power
is lost while using it. Full-wave rectifiers are used for the
conversation of AC voltage and DC voltage. The basic difference
between half-wave rectifiers and full-wave rectifiers is that the
half wave rectifier receives only the half wave of the input AC
signal whereas the full wave rectifiers utilize the whole cycle of
the alternating wave.
 FULL WAVE RECTIFIER

Power Diodes can be connected together to form a full wave

rectifier that convert AC voltage into pulsating DC voltage for
use in power supplies. While this method may be suitable for
low power applications it is unusable to applications which need
a “steady and smooth” DC supply voltage. One method to
improve on this is to use every half-cycle of the input voltage
instead of every other half-cycle. The circuit which allows us to
do this is called Full Wave Rectifier.

Like the half wave rectifier, a full wave rectifier circuit produces
an output voltage or current which is purely DC or has some
specified DC component. Full wave rectifiers have some
fundamental advantages over their half wave rectifier
counterparts. The average (DC) output voltage is higher than
for a half wave, the output of the full wave rectifier has much
less ripple than that of the half wave rectifier producing a
smoother output waveform.

In a Full wave Rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, one
for each half of the cycle. A multiple winding transformer is
used whose secondary winding is split equally into two halves
with a common centre tapped connection(C).

This configuration results in each diode conducting in turn when

anode terminal is positive with respect to the transformer
centre point C producing an output during both half-cycles,
twice that for the half wave rectifier so its 100% efficient as
seen.
FULL WAVE RECTIFIER CIRCUIT

The Full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes

connected to a single load resistance (R.) 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 D
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 D conducts in the forward direction
and the current flowing through the resistor R is in the same
direction for both half-cycles. As the output voltage across the
resistor R is the phase sum of two waveforms combined, this
type of full wave rectifier circuits is also known as a ”bi-phase”
circuit.
 WORKING OF FULL WAVE
RECTIFIER

The input AC supplied to the full wave rectifier is very high. The
step-down transformer in the rectifier circuit converts the high
voltage AC into low voltage AC. The anode of the centre tapped
diodes is connected to the transformer’s secondary winding and
connected to the load resistor. During the positive half cycle of
the alternating current, the top half of the secondary winding
becomes positive while the second half of the secondary
winding becomes negative.

During the positive half cycle, diode D is forward biased as it is

connected to the top of the secondary winding while diode D: is
reverse biased as it is connected to the bottom of the secondary
winding. Due to this, diode D will conduct acting as a short
circuit and D will not conduct acting as an open circuit.

During the negative half cycle, the diode D is reverse biased

and the diode D is forward biased because the top half of the
secondary circuit becomes negative and the bottom half of the
circuit becomes positive. Thus In full wave rectifiers, DC voltage
id obtained for both positive and negative half cycle.

DIODE BRIDGE RECTIFIER

The four labelled D to D are arranged in “series pair” 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.
DURING THE FIRST HALF CYCLE

During the first half cycle of the input voltage, the upper end of
the transformer secondary winding is positive with respect to
the lower end. Thus during the first half cycle, diodes D1 and D3
are forward biased and current flows through arm AB enters the
load resistance R, and returns back flowing through arm DC.
During this half of each input cycle, the diodes D2 and D4 are
reverse biased and current is not allowed to flow in arms AD
and BC. The flow of current is indicated by solid arrows in figure
1.2 above. We have developed another diagram below – the
green arrows indicate the beginning of current flow from the
source (transformer secondary) to load resistance. The red
arrows indicate the return path of current from load resistance
to the source, thus completing the circuit.

DURING THE SECOND HALF

During the second half cycle of the input voltage, the lower end
of the transformer secondary winding is positive with respect to
the upper end. Thus diodes D2 and D4 becomes forward biased
and current flows through arm CB, enters the load resistance R,
returns back to the source flowing through arm DA. The flow of
current has been shown by dotted arrows in figure 1.3. Thus the
direction of the flow of current through the load resistance R
remains the same during both half cycles of the input supply
voltage. The red arrows indicated the return path of current
from load resistance to the source, thus completing the circuit.
 Figure: - The flow of current in first half cycle.

Figure: - Path of current in the second half cycle

The Smoothing Capacitor

We saw in the previous section that the single phase half-wave
rectifier produces and 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 (0.637Vmax) with less superimposed
ripple while the output waveform is twice that of the frequency
of the input supply frequency.

We can improve the average DC output of the rectifier while at

the same time reducing the AC variation of the rectified output
by using smoothing capacitors to filter the output waveform.
Smoothing or reservoir capacitors connected in parallel with the
load across the output level even higher as the capacitor acts
like a storage device as shown below.
 Full-wave Rectifier with
Smoothing Capacitor

The smoothing capacitor converts the full-waved rippled output

of the rectifier into a more smooth DC output voltage. If we now
run the Partsim Simulator Circuit with different values of
smoothing capacitor installed, we can see the effect it has on
the rectified output waveform as shown.

Peak Inverse Voltage of a Full wave bridge

rectifier.
Let’s analyse the peak inverse voltage (PIV) of a full-wave
bridge rectifier using the circuit diagram. At any instant when
the transformer secondary voltage attains positive peak value
Vmax, diodes D1 and D3 will be forward biased (conducting)
and the diodes D2 and D4 will be reverse biased (non-
conducting). If we consider ideal diodes in the bridge, the
forward biased diodes D1 and D3 will have zero resistance. This
means voltage drop across the conducting across the diodes will
be zeros. This will result in the entire transformer secondary
voltage being developed across the load resistance RL.

Thus PIV of a bridge rectifier = Vmax (max of secondary

voltage)

Bridge Rectifier Circuit Analysis

The only difference in the analysis between full wave and centre
tap rectifier are: -

 In a bridge rectifier circuit, two diodes conduct during

each half cycle and the forward resistance becomes
double (2RF)
 In a bridge rectifier circuit, Vsmax is the maximum
voltage.

Full Wave Rectifier Formula

Peak Inverse Voltage

Peak inverse voltage is the maximum voltage a diode can

withstand in the reverse-biased direction before
breakdown. The peak inverse voltage of the full-wave
rectifier is double that of a half-wave rectifier. The PIV
across D1 and D2 is 2V

DC Output Voltage

The following formula gives the average value of the DC

output:
 Form Factor
The form factor of the full wave rectifier is calculated
using the formula:’

Peak Factor
The recitation efficiency of the full-wave rectifier can be
obtained
 1. Efficiency is double for a full-wave bridge rectifier. The reason is
that a half-wave rectifier makes use of only one-half of the input
signal. A bridge rectifier makes use of both halves and hence
doubles efficiency

2. The residual ac ripples (before filtering) are very low in the output
of a bridge rectifier. The same ripple percentage is very high in a
half-wave rectifier. A simple filter is enough to get a constant
dc voltage from the bridge rectifier.

3. We know the efficiency of the full-wave rectifier is

doublethan the half-wave rectifier. This means higher outputvoltage,
higher transformer utilization factor (TUF) and higher output power.

Demerits – Full-wave rectifier needs more circuit elements and is costlier.

Merits and Demerits of Bridge Rectifier Over Center-TapRectifier.

A centre tap rectifier is always a difficult one to implement because of the

special transformer involved. A centre tapped transformer is costly as
well. One key difference between centre tap & bridge rectifier is in the
number of diodes involved in construction. A centre tap full wave rectifier
needs only 2 diodes whereas a bridge rectifier needs 4 diodes.

But silicon diodes being cheaper than a centre tap transformer, a bridge
rectifier is a much-preferred solution in a DC power supply. Following are
the advantages of a bridge rectifier over a centre tap rectifier.

 A bridge rectifier can be constructed with or without atransformer. If

a transformer is involved, any ordinary step-down/step-up
transformer will do the job. This luxury is not
available in a centre tap rectifier. Here the design of the rectifier is
dependent on the centre tap transformer, which cannot be replaced.

 The bridge rectifier is suited for high voltage applications. The

reason is the high peak inverse voltage (PIV) of the bridge rectifier
when compared to the PIV of a centre tap rectifier.

 The transformer utilization factor (TUF) is higher for the bridge

rectifiers.

Demerits of Bridge rectifier over centre

tap rectifier.
The significant disadvantage of a bridge rectifier over a centre tap is the
involvement of 4 diodes in the construction of the bridge rectifier. In a
bridge rectifier, 2 diodes conduct simultaneously on a half cycle of input.
A centre tap rectifier has only 1 diode conducting on a one-half cycle. This
increases the net voltage drop across diodes in a bridge rectifier (it is
double the value of the centre tap)

Applications of Full-wave Bridge rectifier

Full-wave rectifier finds uses in the construction of constant DC voltage
power supplies, especially in general power supplies. A bridge rectifier
with an efficient filter is ideal for any type of general power supply
applications like charging a battery, powering a DC device (like a motor,
led etc.) etc. However, for an audio application, a general power supply
may not be enough. This is because of the residual ripple factor in a
bridge rectifier. There are limitations to filtering ripples. For audio
applications, specially built power supplies (using IC regulators) may
be ideal.

Conclusion:

The working of Full-wave bridge rectifier has been verified experimentally.

The application so of the Full-wave bridge rectifier has also been
appreciated. It is a useful tool which is used in many electronic devices in
real life.