Chapter 3

Rectification
Due to their ability to conduct current in one direction and block current in the other direction, diodes
are used in circuits called rectifiers that convert ac voltage into dc voltage. The process of converting
ac voltage into dc voltage is referred to as rectification.
Rectifiers are found in all dc power supplies that operate from an ac voltage source.

DC power supply

All active electronic devices require a source of constant dc that can be supplied by a battery or a dc
power supply. The dc power supply converts the standard 220 V, 50 Hz ac voltage available at wall
outlets into a constant dc voltage. The voltage produced is used to power all types of electronic
circuits including consumer electronics (televisions, DVDs, etc.), computers, industrial controllers,
and most laboratory instrumentation systems and equipment.

A basic DC power supply consists of 4 parts:

i. A transformer – to step up/down the ac voltage as required
ii. A rectifier – it converts the ac voltage from the transformer output into pulsating dc
voltage
iii. Filter – it eliminates the fluctuations in the rectified voltage and produces a relatively
smooth dc voltage
iv. Regulator – is a circuit that maintains a constant dc voltage for variations in the input line
voltage or in the load

DC power supply block diagram

Fig 1

Half wave rectification

Fig 2

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Fig 2 shows a half wave rectifier circuit. The diode is connected between the load 𝑅𝐿 and the ac
voltage source.

During the positive half cycles of the ac voltage (𝑣𝑖𝑛 ), the diode will be forward biased and allows
current to flow through it (replaced with a short circuit). The current will produce a voltage across the
load resistor 𝑅𝐿 , which has the same shape as the positive half cycle of the input voltage (𝑣𝑖𝑛 ). When
the input voltage (𝑣𝑖𝑛 ) goes negative, the diode becomes reverse biased and no current flows through
it (open circuit) hence the voltage across the load resistor is 0V. The net result is that only positive
half cycles of the input voltage appear across the load resistor. Since the output voltage does not
change polarity, it’s a pulsating dc voltage with the same frequency as the input voltage.

Fig 3 (output waveform across load resistor)

The output signal 𝑣𝑜 now has a net positive area above the axis over a full period and an average
value determined by:

𝑽𝒅𝒄 = 0.318 𝑽𝒎 or 𝑽𝒂𝒗𝒈 = 𝑽𝒑 /π 𝑽𝒎 =𝑽𝒑 = peak input voltage value

The process of removing one-half the input signal to establish a dc level is called halfwave
Rectification.

When the practical diode modelis used with the barrier potential of 0.7 V taken into account. During
the positive half-cycle, the input voltage must overcome the barrier potential before the diode
becomes forward-biased. This results in a half-wave output with a peak value that is
0.7 V less than the peak value of the input.

Fig 4

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Question

Give a detailed explanation as to what would occur if the diode in Fig 2 has its polarity changed ie its
anode is connected to the load resistor.

Full Wave rectification

A full-wave rectifier allows unidirectional current through the load during the entirety of the input
cycle, whereas a half-wave rectifier allows current through the load only during one-half of the cycle.
The result of full-wave rectification is an output voltage with a frequency twice the input frequency
and that pulsates every half-cycle of the input.

Centre-Tapped Full-Wave Rectifier Operation

This full-wave rectifier uses two diodes connected to the secondary of a centre-tapped transformer, as
shown in Fig 5. The input voltage is coupled through the transformer to the centre-tapped secondary.
Half of the total secondary voltage appears between the centre tap and each end of the secondary
winding as shown in Fig 5.

Fig 5

Operation during positive half cycles

Due to the polarities of the secondary winding voltage of the transformer being as shown in Fig 6, D1
will be forward biased (short circuit) whilst D2 (open circuit) will be reverse biased. The current path
is through D1 and the load resistor (electron flow).

Fig 6

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During negative half cycles

The polarities of the secondary voltages shown in Fig 7are such that D1 is reverse biased whilst D2 is
forward biased. The current path is through D2 and the load resistor.

Fig 7

Since the output current during both the positive and negative portions of the input cycle is in the
same direction through the load, the output voltage developed across the load resistor is a full-wave
rectified dc voltage.

The result of full-wave rectification is an output voltage with a frequency twice the input frequency
and that pulsates every half-cycle of the input.

The dc value of a sinusoidal full wave rectifier is twice that of a half wave rectifier and is given by:

𝑽𝒅𝒄 = 0.637 𝑽𝒎 or 𝑽𝒂𝒗𝒈 = 𝟐𝑽𝒑/π 𝑽𝒎 =𝑽𝒑 = peak input voltage value

Bridge Full wave rectifier

This configuration uses 4 diodes arranged in the following manner (Fig 8) to form a bridge

Fig 8

During the positive half cycle on the input voltage, the polarity of 𝑽𝒊𝒏 is as shown in Fig 9. This
forward biases D2 and D3(they conduct) and reverse biases D1 and D4 (open circuits) resulting in the
current path and polarity across the the load R as shown in Fig 9

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Fig 9

For the negative half cycle of the input voltage, the conducting diodes are D 1 and D 4 while D2 and
D3 are ‘off’ , resulting in the configuration of Fig 10. The important result is that the polarity across
the load resistor R is the same as in Fig 9 , establishing a second positive pulse, as shown in Fig 10 .

Fig 10

Over one full cycle the input and output voltages will appear as shown below:

Fig 11

Since the area above the axis for one full cycle is now twice that obtained for a half-wave system, the
dc level has also been doubled and

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If silicon rather than ideal diodes are employed as shown in Fig 12 the application of Kirchhoff’s
voltage law around the conduction path results in:
vi - VK - vo - VK = 0 where VK = barrier potential and vo=output voltage
and vo = vi - 2VK

Fig 12

For situations where Vm >> 2VK, the following equation can be applied for the average
value with a relatively high level of accuracy:

Filter circuits

A rectifier is required to produce pure d.c. supply for use at various places in the electronic
circuits. However, the output of a rectifier has pulsating character i.e. it contains a.c. and d.c.
components. The a.c. component is undesirable and must be kept away from the load. To do so, a
filter circuit is used which removes (or filters out) the a.c. component and allows only the d.c.
component to reach the load.

A filter circuit is a device which removes the a.c. component of rectifier output but allows the
d.c. component to reach the load.

A filter circuit is generally a combination of inductors (L) and capacitors (C). The filtering
action of L and C depends upon the basic electrical principles. A capacitor passes a.c. readily but
does not pass d.c. at all. On the other hand, an inductor opposes a.c. but allows d.c. to pass
through it. It then becomes clear that suitable network of L and C can effectively remove the a.c.
component, allowing the d.c. component to reach the load.

Types of filter circuits

The common types are:

i. Capacitor filter
ii. Choke input filter
iii. Capacitor input filter

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