Elements of Electronics Engineering 4 Elements of Electronics Engineering 6 Elements of Electronics Engineering 8

A rectifier converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses

direction, to direc t current (DC), which flows in only one direction. Thus P -N
junction diode can be used as a rectifier.

2 HALF -WAVE RECTIFIER

Peak Factor
A simple half -wave rectifier using an ideal diode and a load is shown
Peak factor is given by,
in Fig 4.3.

PIV
It is the maximum voltage that the rectifying diodes has to withstand ,
when it reversed -biased.

For the half wave rectifier, the value of PIV is: PIV Vm
Fig. 4 .3: A simple half -wave rectifier ci rcuit
The reasoning for the above equation is that when the diode is reverse
A single diode rectifier when connected across an alternating voltage biased, there is no voltage across the load. Therefore, all of the
source v s. Since the diode only conducts when the anode is positive with secondary voltage (Vm) appears across the diode.
respect to the cathode, current will flow only during the positive half cycle of 3 Full – wave rectifier
Ripple Factor (r)
the input voltage. In the case of cent er-tap full wave rectifier, only two diodes are used,
This is the ratio of the root mean square (rms) value of AC component
The sup ply voltage is given by: vs= V m sin( and are connected to the opposite ends of a cent er-tapped secondary
to th e dc component at the output.
transformer as shown in the figure below. The cent er-tap is usually
Where / T) is the angular frequency in rad/ s.
considered as the ground point or the zero voltage reference point. An a.c
During the positive half cycle of the source, the ideal diode is forward
input is applied to the primary coils of the transformer. This input makes
biased and operates as a closed switch. The source voltage is directly
the secondary ends P 1 and P 2 become positive and negative alternately.
connected across the load.
During the negative ha lf cycle, the diode is reverse biased and acts as For the positive half of the ac si gnal, the secondary point D 1 is
an open switch. The source voltage is disconnected from the load. As positive, GND point will have zero Volts and P 2 will be negative. At this
no current flows through the load, the load voltage v o is zero. instant diode D 1 will be forward biased and diode D 2 will be reverse biased.

Both the load voltage and current are of one polarity and hence The diode D 1 will conduct and D 2 will not conduct during the positive hal f

said to b e rectified. The waveform of source voltage v S and output cycle. Thus, the positive half cycle appears across the load resistance R L.

voltage vo are shown in

Fig: 4.4.
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Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV)

PIV is the maximum possible voltage across a diode during its reverse
biased period.
Therefore, PIV of D 2 = Vm + Vm = 2Vm.

Ripple Factor

The ripple factor for a Full Wave Rectifier is given by

Fig. 4 .7: Circuit diagram of bridge rectifier

During the positive half cycle, both D 2 and D 1 are forward biased. A t the
same time, both D 3 and D 4 are reverse biased. Note the direction of current
flow through the load.
The average voltage or the dc voltage available across the
load resistance is

RMS value of the voltage at the load resistance is

Fig. 4 .8: During positive half -cycle of the input, D1 and D 2 are forward - biased
and conduct current. D 3 and D 4 are reverse biased.

During the negat ive half cycle , D3 and D 4 are forward biased and D 1 and D 2 are
reverse biased.

Efficiency
Efficiency, is the ratio of dc output

power to ac input power

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 Elements of Electronics Engineering 9 Elements of Electronics Engineering 7 Elements of Electronics Engineering 5

Efficiency

Efficiency is t he ratio of the dc output power to ac input power .

Thus

Fig. 4 .5: Circuit diagram of center – tapped full – wave rectifier

During the negative half cycle, the secondary ends P 1 becomes
Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF)
negative and P 2 becomes positive. At this inst ant, the diode D 1 will be
Fig. 4 .4: Input and output voltage waveforms.
negative and D 2 will be positive with the zero reference point being the Transformer Utilization Factor, TUF can be used to determine the
Average load voltage and current
ground. Thus, the diode D 2 will be forward biased and D 1 will be reverse rating of a transformer secondary.
The dc content of voltage output across the load resistor is given by
biased. The diode D 2 will conduct and D 1 will not conduct during the
Vavg = V dc =
negative half c ycle.
When comparing the current flow in the positive and negative half In half wave rectifier the rated voltage of the tran sformer secondary Idc = V dc / R L = Vm L = Im
cycles, we can conclude that the direction of the current flow is the same If the diode forward resistance ( r f) and transformer secondary winding
(through load resistance R L) is .
resistance ( r s) are considered, then Vdc = Vm - Idc (r s + r f)

But actually the RMS current flowing through the winding is only . Idc = V dc / [ (r s + r f)+RL] = Vm / s+ rf + RL)
RMS voltage and current
The rms voltage at load resistor is given by

Form Factor

The rms current is given by

Form factor is given by,
Fig. 4 .6: Input and output waveforms of a centre – tapped full – wave
rectifie r

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The maximum efficiency of a Full Wave Rectifier is 81.2%.

Transformer Utilization Factor
Transformer Utilization Factor, TUF can be used to determine the rating of a
transformer se condary. It is determined by considering the primary and the
secondary winding separately and it gives a value of 0.693.

GATE-2015 GATE-2015 Form Factor

5. In the circuit shown, assume that th e diodes D1 and D2 are ideal. The 5. In the circuit shown, assume that th e diodes D1 and D2 are ideal. The Form factor is defined as the ratio of the rms value of the output voltage to the
average value of voltage Vab (in volts) across terminals ‘a’ and ‘b’ is average value of voltage Vab (in volts) across terminals ‘a’ and ‘b’ is average value of the output voltage .

GATE-2015 GATE-2015 Peak Factor

Peak factor is defined as the ratio of the peak value of the output voltage to the
rms value of the output voltage.

4 Bridge rectifier

The bridge rectifier produces almost double the output voltage as a full
wave center -tapped tr ansformer rectifier using the same secondary voltage. The
advantage of using this circuit is that no center tapped transformer is
required.

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