Converting AC Source to DC Source Using Rectifiers

Cristina D. Manejero National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City [email protected]

Abstract:
This paper shows the first step of turning an AC source into a DC source. The two kind of rectifiers were studied closely and it was determined that the fullwave rectifier is a better rectifier. The value of the Vd is also identified to be 0.5V which is 0.2V away from the theoretical value of 0.7V.

1. Introduction
There are two types of signals that can be used in circuits, the AC and the DC signal. The DC (direct current) signal always flow in one direction and is always positive but it may still increase or decrease in magnitude. DC supply is mostly used for electronic circuits since it is constant at only one value. AC (alternating current) on the other hand, continually moves in time. It changes values from positive to negative. AC supplies are mostly used to power up devices such as televisions and computers. [1] From the power outlets, AC supply is only possible so if you want to use an AC source into a DC you have to rectify and regulate your supply. The first process and the topic for this experiment, in converting an AC to DC is rectification. Rectification is the process of filtering or manipulating a signal to only produce 0 to positive valued voltages. There are two types of rectifiers commonly used: the half-wave rectifier and the full-wave/ bridge rectifier. The half-wave rectifier is composed of one diode and one resistor. A diode is an electrical component that allows (passes) only flow of current in one direction. This circuit is called a half-wave rectifier because only one half of the full AC signal is allowed to pass. It is either the negative or the positive part of the AC wave is passed easily, while the second half is blocked. [2] The full-wave rectifier on the other hand is composed of 4 diodes and 1 resistor. In this case, both half cycles of the AC voltage source is being used to convert it to a DC source. That is why it is called full-wave. No part of the AC signal is blocked. It is also called a bridge rectifier because the four diodes are connected in a closed loop bridge configuration to produce the desired results. In this process, if the positive half of the AC source is coming in the circuit, the first two diodes are forward biased (it allows it to pass) and the last two diodes are off. If the negative part of the signal is coming into the circuit, the diodes are working in reverse. The first two diodes are off and the last two diodes are forward biased. In converting AC to DC, the full-wave bridge rectifier is used. A half-wave rectifier doesnt make a smooth and steady DC source because only half of the waveform is used. Also, the average DC output voltage of a full-wave rectifier is higher. [3]

2. Methodology
This experiment is divided into two parts. The first part is the construction of the half-wave bridge rectifier and the second part is the construction of the full-wave bridge rectifier. For the first part, the circuit below is constructed.

Figure 1. Circuit diagram of a half-wave bridge rectifier.

The diode used is 1N4001 and the resistor has a resistance value of 1k. This circuit is connected to a function generator with a sine wave output of 60 Hz frequency and voltage of 5V. An oscilloscope with two channels was used. The first channel is connected to the input waveform (the probe is connected to the part of the circuit before the diode) and the second channel is connected to the output waveform of the circuit (it is connected to the part after the diode). The images of the two channels are compared. The effect of the diode to the current is also determined. The input and output waveforms are aligned as shown by the image below.

Figure 2. Graph of the theoretical output of the half-wave rectifier.

The value of the Vd is determined. Next, the oscilloscope is changed to xy mode. The output of the function generator is switched to a triangle wave with 5V amplitude. The frequency is varied until the graph below is obtained.

Figure 3. XY plot of the output of half-wave rectifier.

The Vd is then measured. Compare the 2 Vd values obtained. The next part of the experiment is the full-wave bridge rectifier. The circuit below is constructed firstly.

Figure 4. Circuit diagram of the full-wave rectifier.

Again, the diode used is the 1N4001. The resistor has a resistance value of 10k. The output waveform from this part is compared to the output waveform of the half-wave bridge rectifier. The advantage of the full-wave against the half-wave rectifier is determined.

3. Results and Discussion

Figure 5. Experimental output of half-wave rectifier.

As seen from the graph, the diode reduced filtered the negative part of the sine wave and reduced the voltage output of the positive part of the sine wave. Since the setting is 1V peak to peak, the value of V d can be identified by inspection to be 0.5V. The Vd represents the voltage going into the diode. When the oscilloscope is changed to the xy mode, the graph is changed to:

Figure 6. Experimental output of the XY plot.

This graph is obtained when the frequency of the function generator is 10kHz. Since the setting of the oscilloscope is 0.5V peak to peak, the Vd for this graph is 0.5V. By comparing the two results of Vd, it is observed that the Vd for the xy plot is the same with the Vd of the previous part. For the full-wave bridge rectifier, the graph obtained is shown below.

Figure 7. Experimental output of the full-wave bridge rectifier.

As can be seen after the comparison of the graphs is that for the full-wave rectifier, a graph of sin2 is obtained. The negative part of the original sine squared is rotated by 360 degrees such that only positive numbers are obtained.

4. Conclusions
The experiment showed that a rectifier circuit can convert an AC circuit to a semi smooth DC circuit. The negative part of the original sine wave graph is filtered in a half-wave rectifier. For the full-wave rectifier, the negative part of the wave is rotated to obtain the positive value of the function. The main advantage of the full-wave rectifier is that the complete waveform is still being used and no part of the original output is filtered. The full-wave rectifier is also observed to be advantageous from the half-wave rectifier.

Reference: [1] http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/acdc.htm [2] http://www.abcofelectronics.com/Half_wave_rectifier.htm [3] http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/diode/diode_6.html