UNIT-II

RECTIFIERS AND FILTERS

Prepared by
A.Mounika,Assistant Professor
E.C.E Department
A.I.T.S, Tirupati
 TRANSFORMER
• Transformer is not a solid-state device, but they are closely
related to the operation of power supply.

The above figure shows the schematic for a transformer.

• Transformers are made up of inductors that are in close
proximity to each other, yet are not electrically connected.
• An alternating voltage applied to the primary induces an
alternating voltage in the secondary.
• Thus, a transformer provides ac coupling from primary to
secondary while providing physical isolation between the
circuits.
two 2
• Three types of transformer:
– Step-up.
– Step-down.
– Isolation: the output voltage is equal to the input
voltage.

• The turns ratio is the ratio of the number of turns in the

primary to the number of turns in the secondary.
– The turns ratio is equal to the voltage ratio of the component.

NS VS

N V
where NS = the number ofp turns pin the secondary,
NP = the number of turns in the primary,
VS = the secondary voltage, and 104
VP = the primary voltage
• Ideally, transformers are 100% efficient. This means 100%
of the input power is transferred to the output.
PS = PP
• Therefore,
VSIS = VPIP

IP VS

IS VP
• From the formula,
– For a step-down transformer, IP < IS
– For a step-up transformer, IP > IS

• Current varies in the opposite way that voltage varies.

NS IP
 105
 RECTIFIER
• A rectifier is a diode circuit that converts the ac to
pulsating dc.
• There are 3 basic types of rectifier circuits:
– Half-wave rectifier
– Full-wave center-tapped rectifier
– Full-wave bridge rectifier (the most
commonly used)

107
(1) Half-Wave Rectifier
• Half-wave rectifier is a simple diode.

• It is connected in series between a transformer and its load.

108
• The diode is used to eliminate either the negative or positive
alternation of the input.
– A sine-wave at the input, we should get a half-wave rectified
output waveform.

• The output will drop across RL.

– Therefore we can observe (using a scope) or measure (using a
multimeter) the output across RL, not the diode. The diode
direction determines which half-cycle is eliminated.

109
 Basic Circuit Operation
• During positive cycle of the input, the diode is
forward biased and provides a path for the current.
• Therefore, VD1  0V. VS will drop across RL (VL = VS).

110
• During negative cycle of the input, the diode is reverse biased
and acts as an open.
• Therefore, VD1 = VS.

• No current flow in the circuit, so, no voltage developed

across
RL, VL = 0V.

111
Load Voltage and Load Current
• What we have discussed so far is based on an ideal diode.
Take VF into account, the peak load voltage, VL(pk) is given as

VL(pk) = VS(pk) – VF

• We can get VS(pk) from the transformer turns ratio formula.

NS / NP = VS(pk) / VP(pk)
• Usually, source voltages are given as rms values. Convert to
the peak value using
Vpk = Vrms / 0.707
• The peak load current is found as

IL(pk) = VL(pk) / RL 112

Average Voltage and Average Current
• The average voltage Vave is the dc equivalent value of the
ac waveform.
– In most cases, Vave and Vdc are used to describe the same
value.

• For half-wave rectifier:

Vave = Vpk / 
Iave = Ipk / 

115
Peak Inverse Voltage, PIV
• It is the maximum amount of reverse bias that will
be applied to a diode in a rectifier circuit.
• For a half-wave rectifier, the PIV is given as
PIV = VS(pk)

– When the diode is reverse biased, no voltage drop across

RL.
– All of VS is dropped across the diode.
– Thus, PIV determines the VRRM of the diode.

118
(2) Full-Wave Center-Tapped Rectifier
• This type of rectifier circuit requires the transformer to
be a center-tapped transformer.
• The transformer has a lead connected to the center of
the secondary winding.
– For a 24V center-tapped transformer, voltage from the center tap
to each of the outer winding terminals is 12V.

Center-tapped

119
120
 Basic Circuit Operation
• The load voltage is approximately equal to half the
secondary voltage because the transformer is center tapped.
VL(pk)  VS(pk)/2

121
 Load Voltage and Load Current
• The peak load voltage is,
VL(pk) = [VS(pk)/2] – 0.7

• The full-wave rectifier produces twice as many output

pulses (per input cycle) as the half-wave rectifier.
• The average load voltage for a full-wave rectifier,
Vave = 2(Vpk/)

122
Determine the dc load voltage, the peak current and also
the dc load current for the circuit shown.

Example

123
 Peak Inverse Voltage PIV
• When one of the diodes is reverse biased, the voltage
across that diode is approximately equal to VS = 34 Vpk.
• The secondary voltages are +17 Vpk and 17 Vpk.
• Assuming D1 is ideal, then VD1 = 0V and the cathode of D1 is
at +17 Vpk.
• Since the cathode of D1 is connected directly to the cathode
of
D2, the cathode of D2 is also at +17 Vpk.
• Since D2 is off, it will cause an open in the circuit. Therefore
VD2 = +34 Vpk.
• Therefore, the reverse voltage across either diode is
PIV = 2 VL(pk) = VS(pk)
125
Full-Wave versus Half-Wave
• For a 24Vac (rated) transformer, the dc output voltages for the
two circuits are calculated as
Vave = 10.58 Vdc (half-wave rectifier)
Vave = 10.36 Vdc (full-wave rectifier)
• The two circuits produce nearly identical dc output voltages
the same values of transformer secondary voltage.
– Question: why bother with the full-wave rectifier when it has the same
dc output values as the half-wave rectifier?
• The reasons are
– If VL(pk) for the two circuits are equal, the full-wave rectifier will have
twice the dc load voltage and power efficiency of the half-wave
rectifier. We need to use a step-up transformer with turns ratio 1:2.
– The full-wave rectifier has twice the output frequency of the half-wave
rectifier, which has an impact on the filtering of the rectifier output.

126
 (3) Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier

• It has the following advantage:

– It does not require a center-tapped transformer and therefore, can
be directly coupled to the ac power line.
– It produces nearly double VL(pk) of the full-wave center-tapped rectifier.
So, we get a higher dc output voltage from the supply.
127
• The current direction through the load does not change,
has
nor the resulting polarity of the load 128

voltage.
Load Voltage and Load Current
• The center-tapped transformer is essential for the center-
tapped rectifier to work.
• But the output voltage in a center-tapped rectifier is reduced
to half the secondary voltage by the center tap on the
transformer secondary.
• The bridge rectifier does not require a center tap transformer
to work. It can be coupled directly to the ac line input, just
like the half-wave rectifier.
• The output voltage, across the load, is
VL(pk)  VS(pk) (ideal diode)
• For practical diode model,
VL(pk) = VS(pk) – 2(0.7)
129
 Peak Inverse Voltage PIV
• Ideal diode :
PIV = VS(pk)
• Practical diode :
PIV = VS(pk) – 0.7
Why not VS(pk) –
2(0.7)?

133
 FILTER
• Aim of power supply –
produce a constant
dc output voltage.
• Filter: reduce variations
in the rectifier output
signal.
– A little bit of voltage variation Half-wave rectifier
still exist after filtering 
ripple voltage, Vr.
• It is not desirable
• In audio amplifier, ripple can
produce an annoying “hum” at
60 Hz or 120 Hz.
Filter
• Ripple voltage depends
on Vr
1. Type of rectifier
2. Filter component values
3. Load resistance
134
 Basic Capacitive Filter
• Most basic type and most commonly used.
• It is a capacitor connected in parallel with the
load resistance.

Diode is forward-biased
Capacitor charged to VS(pk)

Voltage decrease to zero (diode is

FB) & increase in negative direction
(Diode is RB). 135
Capacitor discharges through RL.
• The capacitor charges through the diode.
– Let’s say the bulk resistance of diode is 5 , it takes 5RDC = 2.5
ms to fully charge the capacitor.
– The discharge path for the capacitor is through the load resistor.
– For the capacitor to fully discharge, it takes 5RLC = 500 ms.

• In other words, the capacitor charges instantaneously and discharges

very slowly.
– For a 60 Hz signal, the capacitor discharges for 16.7 ms before it
is provided with another charging voltage.

136
 • Vr can be minimized by increasing the

• discharging time.
• – Use a high capacitance filter together with a high
• resistance load.

• However, the load of a power supply may consist of any kind of

circuit, each with its own input resistance characteristics.
• – It is impractical to vary RL in to control Vr.

• Choosing the suitable capacitance depends on

1. The amount of surge current Isurge that the rectifier
• diodes can stand.
2. The cost of using a larger-than-required capacitance.
137
 Voltage Regulation
• Voltage regulator is used to maintain a constant power supply
output voltage.
– There are many types, we will look at Zener diode.

• The zener current must be kept within the range

IZK < IZ < IZM
147
• The current through RS
IT = (Vin  VZ) / RS
• The current through RL
IL = VZ / RL
• The current through D1
IZ = IT  IL
• To maintain zener regulation, IZ
> IZK
IL(max) = IT  IZK

• The minimum load resistance

RL(min)
RL(min) = VZ / IL(max)
148
• Likewise, the maximum load
• Zener diode reduces the amount of ripple voltage
present at the filtered output.
• To the ripple waveform, there is a voltage divider
present in the regulator. The voltage divider is
made up of RS series with ZZ||RL.
• The ripple output of the regulator is
Z z || RL
Vr
Vr
 Z z || RL 
(out )
 S 149
R