EE 442

POWER ELECTRONICS I
D I O D E R E C T IF IE R S
(U N C O N T R O L L E D R E C T I F I E R S )
Dr. Said A. Deraz
Assistant Professor
Electrical Engineering Department
Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University
sderaz@kau.edu.sa
saidderaz@yahoo.com

Rectifier is a circuit that converts an AC signal to a DC signal

Rectifier

AC
Transform
supply
er
Block diagram of an uncontrolled diode
rectifier circuit

Note: In a diode rectifiers, the power flows only from the AC source
to the DC side.
Applications of Uncontrolled Rectifiers
DC power supply for consumer electronic products such as radios,
TVs, DVD players, mobile phone chargers, computers, laptops and
so on (low power)
DC motor drives (high power)
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Depending on the type of input source, rectifiers are classified into

two main groups:

Important
equations

Single-phase half-wave rectifier (R load)

Circuit diagram

Waveforms

The average value of output voltage

The average value of load current

The rms value of output voltage

The rms value of load current

Peak inverse voltage across the diode

The efficiency of rectification

The effective (rms) value of the ac component of output voltage

The form factor (a measure for the shape of output voltage)

The ripple factor (a measure for the ripple content)

The harmonic factor or total harmonic distortion (a measure

for distortion of a waveform] of the input current

Where Is1 is the rms value of the fundamental component of the input current. And I s
is the rms value of the input current.
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If is the angle between the fundamental component of the input

current and the voltage, the displacement factor

The input power factor

Single-phase half-wave rectifier (RL load) without

freewheeling diode
Due to inductive load, the conduction period of the diode D 1 will
extend beyond 180 degree until the current becomes zero.

Circuit diagram
Waveforms

The average value of the output voltage

Where the angle can be calculated as:

The average value of the load current

The average value of the output voltage (and hence the current)
can be increased by making =0, which is possible by adding a
freewheeling diode Dm across the load.

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11

Single-phase half-wave rectifier (RL load) with

freewheeling diode

Circuit diagram
Waveforms

The effect of the freewheeling diode Dm is to prevent the negative

voltage appearing across the load, and as a result, the magnetic
stored energy is increased. At t=/, the current from D1 is
transferred to Dm and this process is called commutation of
diodes. Depending on the load time constant, the load current may
be discontinuous.
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Single-phase center-tap full-wave rectifier (R load)

Circuit diagram

Waveforms
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The average value of output voltage

The average value of load current

The rms value of output voltage

The rms value of load current

Peak inverse voltage across each diode

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Single-phase bridge full-wave rectifier (R load)

Circuit diagram

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The average value of output voltage

The average value of load current

The rms value of output voltage

The rms value of load current

Peak inverse voltage across each diode

Waveforms
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Single-phase bridge full-wave rectifier (RL load)

With a resistive load, the load
current is identical in shape to
the load voltage.
In practical applications, most
loads are inductive. The load
current shape and magnitude
depend on both the load
resistance R and inductance L.

Circuit diagram
Waveforms
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Single-phase bridge rectifier with very large

inductive load

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E#1 If a single-phase bridge rectifier supplies a very high inductive

load such as a dc motor. the turns ratio of the transformer is unity.
Determine a) the HF of the input current, and b) the input PF of the
rectifier.

Note the output (load) current is constant and ripple free due to the highly
inductive load.
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Using Fourier series, the input current is can be analyzed as

Therefore, the rms value of the input current is

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Therefore, the rms value of the fundamental component of the

input current is

Therefore, the harmonic factor is

Since =0, the displacement factor is

Therefore, the input power factor

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Multiphase rectifier

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Three phase bridge rectifier

Circuit diagram

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Waveforms

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The average value of output voltage

The rms value of output voltage

Peak inverse voltage across each diode

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E#2 A three-phase bridge rectifier supplies a high inductive load

such that the average load current Idc= 60 A and the ripple content
is negligible. Determine the ratings of the diodes if the line-toneutral voltage of the supply is 120V, 60Hz.
As shown, the average value of
the diode current

The rms value of the diode

current

The peak inverse voltage across

the diode

Currents through
diodes
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E#3 For the following current waveform, determine the average,

rms, peak value of the current.

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