UNIT I

INDUSTRIAL POWER ELECTRONICS

 POWER DEVICES AND TRIGGER CIRCUITS

Thyristor family
1. Working principle ,VI characteristics, Applications of SCR
2. Definitions for holding current, latching current, dv/dt rating,
di/dt rating
3. Symbol, principle of working ,VI characteristics ,applications of
Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), MOSFET and GTO
4. Triggering of SCR
5. Gate triggering –Types
6. Concepts of DC triggering, AC triggering, Pulse gate triggering.
7. Pulse transformer in trigger circuit
8. Electrical isolation by opto isolator
9. Resistance firing circuit and waveform
 POWER DEVICES AND TRIGGER CIRCUITS

10. Resistance capacitor firing circuit and waveform

11. Synchronized UJT triggering (ramp triggering) and waveform
12. Ramp and pedestal trigger circuit for ac load.
 SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR)

➢ SCR is a three terminal device (anode, cathode and gate)

➢ It has three junction and four layer semiconductor switching
device.
➢ The basic structure and symbol of SCR is shown in figure.
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

➢ In the normal operating conditions a positive voltage is applied

to the anode (A) and a small positive voltage is applied to the
gate (g) with respect to the cathode (K) as shown in figure.
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

➢ When the gate is kept open (VG = 0) the SCR is similar to a

PNPN diode.
➢ The junction J1 and J3 operates in forward bias and the junction
J2 in reverse bias. So no current flows through the SCR. There
fore the SCR is in OFF state. The SCR now offers high
resistance.
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

➢ When the anode voltage is gradually increased the junction J2

attains breakdown at a particular voltage. Now the SCR
conducts heavily going to ON state. The anode voltage at which
the SCR conducts heavily (ON state) without gate voltage is
called break over voltage.
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
➢ When a small positive voltage is applied to its gate the junction
J3 is in forward biased and the junction J2 reversed biased by this
voltage.
➢ Now the electrons move from N type layer through the junction
J3. The electrons in junction J3 are also attracted by junction J2
and gate current starts flowing. The holes also move from P
layer to N layer which in turn increases the anode current and
makes more electrons at junction J2. This cumulative process
makes to breakdown the junction J2 in a short time. Now the
SCR conducts heavily.
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

➢ Once an SCR is turned ON the gate loses its control. Even if the
gate voltage is removed the SCR does not go to OFF state.
➢ To turn the device OFF is only done by lowering the anode
voltage and makes the current less than holding current (IH).
 VI CHARACTERISTICS OF SCR

➢ The VI characteristics of SCR are shown in figure.

 VI CHARACTERISTICS OF SCR

➢ The VI characteristics of SCR are divided into three regions of

operation.
1. Forward blocking region
2. Forward conduction mode
3. Reverse blocking region
 VI CHARACTERISTICS OF SCR

➢ In forward biasing as the anode cathode voltage exceeds the

forward break over voltage the SCR turns on and the cathode
voltage decreases quickly to a voltage marked as B.
➢ The current at B is called holding current (IH) it is the minimum
value of anode current to keep the SCR in ON state. The region
between the point B and C after break down is called forward
conduction region.
➢ When the anode voltage is negative with respect to cathode the
junction J1 and J3 operate in reverse biasing and the junction J2
operates in forward biasing. When the reverse voltage is linearly
increased avalanche breakdown occurs in a particular reverse
voltage. The region before break down is called reverse
blocking region.
 VI CHARACTERISTICS OF SCR

➢ When anode is positive with respect to the cathode with the gate
circuit open SCR is said to be forward biased.
➢ In this mode a small current called forward leakage current
flows through the SCR.
➢ If the forward voltage is increased then the reverse biased
junction J2 will have an avalanche breakdown at the voltage
called forward break over voltage.
➢ The region before the break down is called forward blocking
region.
 HOLDING CURRENT

➢ Once the SCR is conducting gate losses its control. The SCR can
be turned OFF only if the forward current falls below a low level
current called holding current.
➢ It may be defined as the minimum value of anode current below
which the SCR stops conduction and returns to its OFF state.
 LATCHING CURRENT

➢ Latching current is the minimum value of anode current required

to keep the SCR in the ON state after the gate signal is removed.
➢ In general the latching current is more than the holding current
 dv/dt (Rate of rise of voltage) Rating

➢ The dv/dt rating of an SCR indicates the maximum rate of rise of

anode voltage that will not trigger the SCR with out any gate
signal.
➢ If the forward anode voltage variation exceeds dv/dt rating then
the SCR turns on even without any positive gate signal. Such
turn-ON is false triggering. It may disturb the operation of the
SCR.
 di/dt (Rate of rise of current) Rating

➢ The di/dt rating of an SCR indicates the maximum allowable

rate of change of current which the SCR can withstand during its
ON state.
➢ An SCR requires a minimum time to spread the current
conduction uniformly throughout the junctions. If the rate of rise
of anode current (di/dt) is very fast compared to the spreading
velocity of carriers across the cathode junction local hot spots
will be formed near the gate connection on account of high
current density.
➢ This increases the junction temperature beyond the safe limit
and the SCR may be damaged.
 APPLICATIONS OF SCR

➢ DC/AC motor drives

➢ Large power supplies
➢ Electronic circuit breakers
➢ Emergency light
➢ Automatic battery charger unit
➢ Over voltage protection
➢ Static var compensator
➢ AC static circuit breakers
➢ Static DC circuit breakers
➢ Regulated power supply
 Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
(MOSFET)
➢ MOSFET is a very fast switching device.
➢ It has three terminals called drain (D), source (S) and gate(G).
➢ MOSFET is a voltage controlled device.
➢ MOSFER are of two types
1. N – channel enhancement MOSFET
2. P – channel enhancement MOSFET
➢ N – channel enhancement MOSFET is more common because of
higher mobility of electrons.
➢ MOSFET is a unipolar device because its conduction depends
upon only its majority carriers.
 MOSFET

➢ The basic structure and symbol of N – channel enhancement

MOSFET is shown in figure.
 MOSFET

➢ On P – substrate two heavily doped N+ regions are diffused.

➢ An insulating layer of silicon dioxide (Sio2) is grown on the
surface.
➢ This insulating layer is etched in order to embed metallic source
and drain terminals. So that N+ regions make contact with source
and drain terminals.
➢ A layer of metal is also deposited on Sio2 layer so as to form the
gate of MOSFET.
 MOSFET

➢ A positive voltage VDD is applied to the drain terminal and also

a low positive voltage VGS is applied to the gate terminal with
respect to source.
➢ When gate is open no current flows from drain to source and
load because of one reverse biased (N+ P) junction.
➢ When gate is made positive with respect to source an electric
field is established. By this effect negative charges are induced
in the P substrate below SiO2 layer. These negative charges
(electrons) from N – channel and current can flow from drain to
source as shown by the arrow.
➢ If VGS is made more positive N channel becomes more deep and
therefore more current flow from D to S. This shows that drain
current ID is enhanced by the gradual increase of gate voltage.
 VI CHARACTERISTICS OF MOSFET

➢ The output characteristics of MOSFET is shown in figure.

➢ It indicates the variation of drain current ID as a function of drain
- source voltage VDS and VGS act as a parameter.
 VI CHARACTERISTICS OF MOSFET

➢ For low values of VDS the graph between VDS and ID is almost
linear.
➢ For given VGS if VDS is increased output characteristics is
relatively flat indicating that drain current is nearly constant.
 APPLICATION OF MOSFET

➢ Electric vehicles and hybrid cars.

➢ Brushless DC motor drive.
➢ Electronic DC relay.
➢ Switch mode power supply.
➢ Traction motor control
➢ Induction heating.
 Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)

➢ IGBT is a three terminal power semiconductor device. Emitter,

collector and gate
➢ It is used as an electronic switch with high efficiency and fast
switching.
➢ The devices combines the advantages of both MOSFET and
BJT.
➢ So an IGBT has high input impedance like a MOSFET and a
low ON state power loss in a BJT.
➢ IGBT is also known as metal oxide insulated gate transistor.
 BASIC STRUCTURE OF IGBT

➢ The structure of IGBT is shown in the figure.

➢ The bottom layer is P+ substrate and a metal layer is deposited
to form the collector terminal.
➢ The N- layer is called the drain drift region. The drift region
determines the break down voltage of the device.
➢ The P regions are diffused in the N- and further N+ are diffused
in P regions. Then SiO2 is added which is then etched so as to fit
metallic terminals for emitter and gate.
BASIC STRUCTURE OF IGBT
 OPERATION OF IGBT

➢ When gate is positive with respect to emitter and with gate

emitter voltage more than the threshold voltage of IGBT, an N
channel is formed in the P regions.
➢ This N channel short circuits the N- region and N+ emitter
regions. An electron movement in the N channel in turn causes
substantial hole injection from P+ substrate layer into expitaxial
N- layer. So forward current is conducted.
➢ The three layers P+, N- and P constitute a PNP transistor with P+
emitter, N- as base and P as collector.
➢ Also the N- P and N+ layers constitute a NPN transistor with N-
as collector, P as base and N+ as emitter.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF IGBT

➢ The static VI characteristics of an IGBT are shown in the figure.

➢ The characteristics shows the collector current IC versus
collector to emitter voltage VCE for various values of gate
emitter voltage VGE.
➢ In forward direction the shape of output characteristics is similar
to that of BJT. Here the controlling parameter is gate emitter
voltage VCE because IGBT is a voltage controlled device.
➢ When the voltage VGE is less than its threshold voltage the IGBT
is in OFF state. When the device is OFF junction J2 blocks
forward voltage and in case reverse voltage appears across
collector and emitter junction J1 blocks it.
➢ When the collector voltage is increase breakdown occurs and
current increases.
CHARACTERISTICS OF IGBT
 APPLICATIONS OF IGBT

➢ DC and AC motor drives

➢ UPS system and power supplies
➢ Traction motor control
➢ SMPS
➢ Relays
 Gate Turn Off thyristor [GTO]

➢ A gate turn off thyristor (GTO) is a special type of thyristor a

high power semiconductor device
➢ The GTO contains three terminals namely Anode(A),
Cathode(C) and Gate(G).
➢ The P+ layer acts as Anode(A), the diffused P+ layer at the top
side acts as Gate(G) and also the another diffused N+ layer at
the top side acts as cathode(K).
➢ The structure and symbols are shown in figure.
[GTO] structure and symbol
 OPERATION OF GTO

➢ Normal thyristors (SCR) are not fully controlled switches.

Thyristors can only be turned ON and cannot be turned OFF.
➢ The GTO can be turned ON like an ordinary thyristor by a pulse
of positive polarity gate signal.
➢ It can also be turned OFF by a gate signal with negative polarity.
➢ There is no need of commutation circuit for inverters using these
devices are compact and costless.
➢ Turn ON is accomplished by a positive current pulse between
gate and cathode terminals. As the gate cathode behaves like PN
junction there will be some relatively small voltage between the
terminals.
➢ Turn – off is accomplished by a negative voltage pulses between
the gate and cathode terminals.
➢ Some of the forward current is stolen and used to induce a
cathode gate voltage which in turn induces the forward current
to fall and the GTO will switch OFF.
➢ The turn OFF time of a GTO is approximately ten times faster
than at a comparable SCR.
➢ So the GTO has faster switching speed than the regular thyristor.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GTO

➢ The VI characteristics of GTO is shown in figure.

 CHARACTERISTICS OF GTO

➢ It is observed from these characteristics that latching current for

large power GTOs is several amperes as compared to
conventional thyristors for same rating.
➢ If the gate current is not able to turn ON the GTO it behaves like
a high voltage, low gain transistor with considerable anode
current.
➢ This leads to a noticeable power loss under such conditions.
 APPLICATIONS OF GTO

➢ Variable speed motor drives.

➢ High power inverters
➢ Locomotive drives.
➢ Railway power supply frequency changers
➢ Static breakers.
➢ Deep sea pump drives.
 ADVANTAGES OF GTO OVER THYRISTORS

➢ GTO has faster switching speed.

➢ It has more di/dt rating at turn on.
➢ It has lower size and weight.
➢ It has higher efficiency
➢ It has reduced electromagnetic losses.
 DISADVANTAGES OF GTO OVER THYRISTORS

➢ Magnitude of latching current and holding current are higher.

➢ On state voltage drop loss are more.
➢ Require high triggering gate current.
➢ Gate drive circuit losses are more.
 TRIGGERING OF SCR

➢ The SCR can be triggered (turned ON) any one of the following
methods.
1. Increasing forward voltage beyond breakdown voltage
VBO.
2. Applying a positive voltage to gate with respect to
cathode (gate control method).

The gate control method is more efficient reliable and easy to

control of AC and DC power in loads. This is the most common
method of triggering.
 TRIGGERING OF SCR

➢ To turn ON a SCR the following conditions are to be satisfied

1. The SCR should be forward biased.
2. Gate should be made positive with respect to cathode.
3. The load impedance should not be too high. So that if
SCR turns – ON the forward current would reach slightly higher
than the latching current.
4. The applied gate signal should not reverse bias the SCR.
 GATE TRIGGERING METHODS

➢ There are 3 gate triggering methods.

1. DC gate triggering
2. AC gate triggering
3. Pulse gate triggering
 DC GATE SIGNAL TRIGGERING

➢ In this type of triggering a DC voltage of proper magnitude and

polarity is applied between the gate and cathode of SCR.
➢ When the applied voltage is sufficient to produce the required
gate current the device starts conducting.
➢ This trigger circuit is simple and suitable for inductive load
control.
➢ In DC gate signal triggering there is no isolation between gate
control circuit and anode cathode circuit.
➢ The presence of gate current for the entire conduction period
increases the power loss in the gate cathode circuit.
DC GATE SIGNAL TRIGGERING
 DC GATE SIGNAL TRIGGERING

Advantages
1. Simple circuit.
2. Well suitable for control of large inductive loads.

Disadvantages
1. More gate power loss due to continuous DC signal applied to
the gate.
 AC GATE SIGNAL TRIGGERING

➢ The AC source is most commonly used for the gate signal in all
AC applications.
➢ A phase RC shifting circuit connected to the same AC supply
provides the gate-cathode voltage.
➢ By adjusting the RC time constant of the phase shifting network
firing angle of SCR can be varied.
➢ Phase shifted reverse voltage in the gate cathode circuit prevents
the reverse conduction of SCR during the negative half cycles.
➢ The electrical isolation between gate control circuit and anode
cathode circuit is present.
➢ But there is a continuous power loss in the gate cathode circuit.
AC GATE SIGNAL TRIGGERING
 PULSE GATE SIGNAL TRIGGERING

➢ In this process pulse signals are applied at the gate for triggering
the SCR.
➢ A pulse transformer or pulse producing circuit is used for this
purpose.

Triggering by gate pulse is of 2 types.

1. Single pulse triggering.
2. Pulse train triggering
PULSE GATE SIGNAL TRIGGERING
 SINGLE PULSE TRIGGERING

➢ In this method a single pulse of moderate duration is used. The

duration is shorter for resistive loads and broader for inductive
loads.
➢ The inductive nature load and due to the presence of a back
E.M.F in case of motors a single pulse may not be successful in
triggering the SCR.
➢ In that case two consecutive pulses may be used
 PULSE TRAIN TRIGGERING

➢ In this method a number of short duration pulses of equal

magnitude and duration is used.
➢ These pulses are applied to gate cathode circuit to trigger a
forward biased SCR.
➢ Once the SCR conducts there is no need for any pulse at gate
until the end of conduction in the particular half cycle.
 PULSE TRANSFORMER IN TRIGGER CIRCUIT

➢ Pulse transformers are often used to couple a trigger pulse

generator to a thyristor (SCR or GTO).
➢ In order to obtain electrical isolation between the two circuits.
➢ Pulse transformers have one primary winding and can have one
or more secondary windings.
➢ The transformer most commonly used for thyristor control are
either 1:1 two winding or 1:1:1 three winding types.
➢ These transformer are designed to have low winding resistance
small leakage inductance and low inter winding capacitance.
PULSE TRANSFORMER IN TRIGGER CIRCUIT
 PULSE TRANSFORMER IN TRIGGER CIRCUIT

➢ The series resistance R reduces the SCR holding current.

➢ The series diode prevents reverse gate current in case of ringing
or reversal of the pulse transformer output voltage.
➢ The diode also reduces holding current of SCR.
➢ The function of pulse transformer is to supply sufficient energy
to trigger the SCR and to provide sufficient gate current to the
SCR under any worst conditions.
Advantages
➢ It provides an electrical isolation of low voltages gate circuit
from direct voltage.
➢ Two or more devices can be triggered from the same source by
using multi secondary windings
➢ The gate losses is minimized since the duration of the output
 ELECTRICAL ISOLATION BY OP-TO ISOLATOR

➢ Generally it is not desirable to have a direct electrical connection

between low power control circuit and the high power load it
controls.
➢ One reason is the possibility of noise being coupled from the
high current circuit into the low power control circuit.
➢ Another reason is the possibility of high voltage from load
circuit feeding back into the low power control circuit as a result
of component failure.
➢ These drawbacks are largely overcome by the devices called
op-to-isolators or op-to-couplers which is use light energy to
couple the control signal to the load.
 ELECTRICAL ISOLATION BY OP-TO ISOLATOR

➢ Op-to-coupler consists of a light source (usually IRED) a light

sensitive device (photo transistor) and a switching device.
➢ Some of the available op-to-couplers are shown in figure.
➢ The devices inside the dotted lines are integrated into a single
light tight package with input terminals of a and b and output
terminals of x and y accessible to the user.
➢ The input circuit is simply an IRED which emits IR radiation
when it is sufficiently forward biased.
➢ This radiation is focused on a light sensitive device so that it
switches ON whenever sufficient current flows through the
IRED.
ELECTRICAL ISOLATION BY OP-TO ISOLATOR
 ELECTRICAL ISOLATION BY OP-TO ISOLATOR

➢ An op-to-coupler used to isolate the low power control circuit

from a high power load is shown in the figure.
➢ The output voltage from the logic circuit provides the relatively
low current needed to activate the IRED which in turn controls
the light activated TRIAC.
➢ When the output voltage of logic circuit, Eo is 0V the IRED is
not conducting and the TRIAC is placed in the op-to-coupler is
held OFF so the load does not receive AC voltage.
➢ When Eo is 5V the IRED conducts and its radiant energy turn the
TRIAC ON switching the AC voltage across the load.
➢ The load receives AC power as long as Eo remains at 5V.
➢ There is no direct electrical connection between the logic and
load circuit.
ELECTRICAL ISOLATION BY OP-TO ISOLATOR
 RESISTANCE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢ The resistance triggering circuit is shown in figure for varying

the trigger angle and therefore power in the load.
➢ Using a gate pulse to trigger the SCR the gate current is supplied
by an A.C source voltage es through R1 and R2 and the series
diode D.
▪ As es goes positive the SCR becomes forward biased from anode
to cathode however it will not conduct (eL = 0) until its gate
current exceeds Ig(min).
▪ The positive es also forward biases the diode and the SCRs gate
cathode junction this causes flow of a gate current ig.
▪ The gate current will increases as es increases towards its peak
value. When ig reaches a value equal to Ig(min) the SCR turns ON
and eL = es.
RESISTANCE FIRING CIRCUIT
 RESISTANCE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢ es is start decreases to the point where the load current is below

the SCR holding current. This usually occurs very close to the
point until es = 0 and begins to go negative.
➢ The SCR now turns off while es goes negative since its anode
cathode is reverse biased. And since the SCR is now an open
switch the load voltage is zero during this period.
➢ The purpose of the diode in the gate circuit is to prevent the gate
cathode reverse bias from exceeding peak reverse gate voltage
during the negative half cycle of es.
➢ The diode is chosen to have peak reverse voltage rating greater
than the input voltage Emax.
➢ The same sequence is repeated when es again goes positive.
 RESISTANCE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢ The load voltage can be controlled by varying R2 which varies

the resistance in the gate circuit.
➢ If R2 is increased the gate current will reach its trigger value
Ig(min) at a greater value of es. The trigger angle α will increase.
➢ If R2 is decreased the gate current will reach its trigger value
Ig(min) at a smaller value of es. The trigger angle α will decrease.
➢ If R2 value is very high the SCR gate current will never reach
Ig(min) and the SCR will remains OFF.

➢ The limited range of firing angle control by resistance firing

circuit can be overcome by RC firing circuit.
 RESISTANCE CAPACITANCE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢ RC half wave firing circuit

➢ RC full wave firing circuit
 RC HALF WAVE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢ The circuit diagram of RC half wave firing circuit is shown in

figure.
➢ By varying the value of resistor R firing angle can be controlled
from 0° to 180°.
RC HALF WAVE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢In the negative half cycle

capacitor charges through D2 with
lower plate positive to the peak
supply voltage Vm at ɷt = -90°.
➢After ɷt = -90° (π/2) source
voltage Vs decreases from – Vm at
ɷt = -90° to zero at ɷt = 0°.
➢During this period capacitor
voltage Vc may fall from – Vm at ɷt
= -90° to some lower value –a at ɷt
= 0° as shown in figure.
 RC HALF WAVE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢ The anode voltage passes through zero and becomes positive C

begins to charge through variable resistance R from the initial
voltage –a.
➢ When the capacitor charges to positive voltage equal to gate
trigger voltage Vgt SCR is fired and after this capacitor holds to a
small voltage.
➢ Diode D1 is used to prevent the breakdown of cathode to gate
junction through D2 during the negative half cycle.
➢ For high value of R the time taken for C to charge from –a to Vgt
is more firing angle is more and therefore average output voltage
is low.
➢ If the value of R is less firing angle is low and therefore average
output voltage is more.
 RC FULL WAVE FIRING CIRCUIT

➢ The circuit diagram of RC full wave trigger circuit is shown in

figure.
➢ Diodes D1 to D4 form a full wave diode bridge.
➢ In this circuit the initial voltage from which the capacitor C
charges is almost zero.
➢ The capacitor C is set to this low positive voltage (upper plate
positive) by the clamping action of SCR gate.
➢ When capacitor charges to a voltage equals to Vgt SCR triggers
and rectified voltage Vd appears across load as Vo.
➢ The average output is high for lower value of R and output is
low for high value of R.
RC FULL WAVE FIRING CIRCUIT
RC FULL WAVE FIRING CIRCUIT
 SYNCHRONIZED UJT TRIGGERING (RAMP
TRIGGERING)
A synchronized UJT trigger circuit is shown in figure.
 SYNCHRONIZED UJT TRIGGERING (RAMP
TRIGGERING)
➢ The diode bridge D1 – D4 rectifies AC to DC.
➢ The resistor R1 lowers Vdc to a suitable value for the zener diode
and UJT.
➢ Zener diode Dz is used to clip the rectified voltage to a standard
level Vz, which remains constant except near the Vdc zero.
➢ This voltage Vz is applied to the charging circuit RC.
➢ Current i1 charges capacitor C through R until it reaches the UJT
trigger voltage η Vz.
➢ The UJT then turn ON and C discharges through the UJT emitter
and primary of the pulse transformer sending a current i2 is in
the form of pulses winding of pulse transformer have pulse
voltages at the secondary terminals.
SYNCHRONIZED UJT TRIGGERING (RAMP
TRIGGERING)
 SYNCHRONIZED UJT TRIGGERING (RAMP
TRIGGERING)
➢ Pulses at the two secondary windings feed the pulses of two
SCRs of a full wave circuit.
➢ SCR with positive anode voltage would turn ON.
➢ Rate of rise voltage can be controlled by varying R.
➢ The firing angle can be controlled up to about 150°.
➢ This method of controlling is called ramp control or open loop
control or manual control.
➢ As the zener diode voltage Vz goes to zero at the end of each
half cycle the synchronization of the trigger circuit with the
supply voltage.
➢ In case R is reduced so that Vc reaches UJT trigger voltage twice
in each half cycle and there will be two pulses in each half cycle.
RAMP AND PEDESTAL TRIGGER CIRCUIT FOR A.C
LOAD
➢ Figure shows the circuit for ramp and pedestal triggering of two
thyristors connected in anti parallel for controlling powrr in the
A.C load.
RAMP AND PEDESTAL TRIGGER CIRCUIT FOR A.C
LOAD
➢ Ramp and pedestal triggering is an improved version of
synchronized UJT oscillator triggering.
➢ Zener diode voltage Vz is constant at its threshold voltage.
➢ RP acts potential divider. Wiper of Rp controls the value of
pedestal voltage Vp diode D allows C to be quickly charged to
Vp through the low resistance of the upper portion of Rp.
➢ The setting of wiper on Rp is such that this value of Vp is always
less than the UJT firing point voltage ηVs.
➢ When wiper setting is such that Vp is small voltage Vz charges c
through R.
➢ When this ramp voltages Vc reaches ηVs UJT fires and voltage
through the pulse transformer, is transmitted to the gate circuits
of both thyristors T1 and T2.
RAMP AND PEDESTAL TRIGGER CIRCUIT FOR A.C
LOAD
RAMP AND PEDESTAL TRIGGER CIRCUIT FOR A.C
LOAD
➢ From period 0 to π SCR T1 is forward bias and is turned ON.
➢ From π to 2π T2 is turned ON. In this manner load is subjected
to alternating eL.

➢ With setting of wiper on Rp pedestal voltage Vp on C can be

adjusted.
➢ Vp – low; C – charging takes longer time. And firing angle delay
is larger and output voltage is low and vice versa.