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EECE 315, Design HW 01

Name
Student ID

Andrea Coetzer

Due Date

02/27/2015

Collaborators

005639830

No collaborators

Title: Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Introduction:
The purpose of this design is to input sinusoidal ac voltage with an 8V
peak-to-peak voltage at a frequency of 2000 Hz and convert it to a DC output
voltage. The design of the circuit includes four 1N4148 diodes, a resistor greater
than or equal 2k , and a capacitor. PSpice was used to aid in the design as
well as simulate the generated output function.

Design Analysis:

In order to design this circuit, all component values must be known.

The purpose is to decrease the ripple voltage ( V r to as close to zero as
possible. According to our textbook, Microelectronics Circuit Analysis and
V
Design, 4th Ed., ripple voltage is defined as V r = m
(equation 2.9), where
2 fRC
V m is the peak output voltage (8V), f is the input signal (2kHz), and RC is
the resistance and capacitance respectively. This leaves us with three unknowns:
V r , R, and C. Since the ripple voltage needs to be as small as possible, we can
assume V r =0.001V . According to the design parameters, the resistance has to
be at least 2k , so we can assume this value in order to find the capacitance.
Vm
The circuit can then be rearranged to determine the capacitance: C=
.
2 fR V r
After plugging in all the known values, we can determine that the capacitance
required is 1000 F .
Using PSpice to simulate the design, the following graph was generated:

This simulated output confirms that the design and calculated values are
satisfactory. There is a very low ripple in the output voltage shown in red.

Apparatus Diagram:

Experiment Procedure:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Set the oscilloscope to generate an 8V p-p voltage at a frequency of 2kHz.

Using the apparatus diagram, model the circuit on a breadboard.
Capture the output voltage of the circuit on the oscilloscope.
Take a screen capture of the Vin v. Vout.
The output voltage should look very close to linear.

Data:
Discussion:
The experimental results are mostly what were expected. The input ac
voltage gets cut off at the negative peak. This could possibly have been due to
the capacitor being connected to ground along with the input voltage and
therefore smoothing the peaks. The output voltage shown in blue, is as
expected. The results show that the RC values chosen in the rectifier are correct
since it smoothes the ac voltage into a linear DC voltage.
The diode bridge in the circuit directs the current to flow into the direction
of the capacitor and the load resistor. While the ac voltage input is in its positive
half cycle, D1 and D2 (refer to apparatus diagram) are in forward bias mode
while diode D3 and D4 are in
reverse bias mode. The two
diodes in forward bias mode
allows the current to flow and
causes a voltage drop, while
the
two diodes in reverse bias acts
as
a short, therefore prohibiting
current to flow in that direction.
In
the negative half cycle of the
input voltage, D1 and D2 are in
reverse bias while D3 and D4
are
in forward bias. This orientation
of
the 4 diodes, allow the current
to
flow in the same direction
during both the positive and
negative cycle of the input voltage.

Conclusion:

The design of this circuit has taught me how to use diodes to ensure
current flows in the desired direction. Its purpose was to learn how to transform
a sinusoidal voltage into a steady state. In addition, it taught me how to filter the
input by using a capacitor and resistance by determining the appropriate RC
constant to reduce the ripple of the voltage.