PE/ 424UCR/ FWRC/ Febr uar y 9, 2006 Ful l - wave r ect i f i er wi t h a capaci t or f i l t er

1
FULL- WAVE FI LTER
We can car ry out t he exact anal ysi s of a f ul l - wave f i l t er j ust l i ke t he anal ysi s of a
hal f - wave f i l t er. I nst ead of ci t i ng t he f i nal equat i ons, l et us repeat t he process
because i t wi l l hel p you underst and t he anal ysi s bet t er.

Exact Anal ysi s
A cent er -t apped secondary wi ndi ng f ul l - wave rect i f i er ci rcui t wi t h a capaci t or C
across t he l oad i s gi ven i n Fi gure 1. A si mi l ar ci r cui t can al so be dr awn usi ng a
bri dge rect i f i er. The i nput vol t age on t he secondary si de of t he t ransf or mer i s
) t sin( V ) t ( v
SM S
= V, 2 t 0

Fi gure 1: A ful l -wave recti fi er wi th a fi l teri ng capaci tor

Let us assume t hat t he i ni t i al charge on t he capaci t or i s zero. As t he
posi t i ve cycl e of t he i nput vol t age ) t ( v
S
begi ns, t he di ode
1
D st art s conduct i ng.
The l oad vol t age al so appears across C and t he capaci t or begi ns t o charge.
When t he i nput vol t age reaches i t s maxi mum val ue
SM
V , so does t he vol t age
across C as l ong as t he di ode i s i deal . As t he i nput vol t age ) t ( v
S
begi ns t o
decrease f rom i t s maxi mum val ue, t he di ode
1
D st ops conduct i ng because i t i s
now reverse bi ased by t he vol t age across C. The di ode current becomes zero.
The capaci t or C begi ns t o di scharge exponent i al l y t hrough t he l oad resi st or R
wi t h a t i me const ant RC. Si nce we want t he out put vol t age t o be nearl y
const ant , t he RC t i me const ant shoul d be much great er t han t he t i me peri od T
of t he i nput vol t age.
PE/ 424UCR/ FWRC/ Febr uar y 9, 2006 Ful l - wave r ect i f i er wi t h a capaci t or f i l t er
2
The capaci t or cont i nues t o di scharge unt i l t he negat i ve-hal f cycl e of t he
i nput vol t age appears as t he posi t i ve hal f -cycl e on t he out put si de. As t he out put
vol t age begi ns t o go posi t i ve agai n, t he di ode
2
D wi l l st art conduct i ng onl y when
t he out put vol t age becomes equal t o t he capaci t or vol t age. Thereaf t er, t he
capaci t or begi ns t o charge agai n t oward t he maxi mum val ue
SM
V . Once t he
capaci t or has charged t o t he maxi mum val ue, t he di ode
2
D st ops t o conduct and
anot her cycl e of capaci t or di scharge begi ns as shown i n Fi gure 2.


Fi gure 2: Fi l tered vol tage across t he l oad

Let us assume t hat at an angl e (rad/ s), t he posi t i ve goi ng out put
vol t age i s equal t o t he mi ni mum vol t age
min
V t o whi ch t he capaci t or has
di scharged. The angl e can t hen be det ermi ned f rom t he i nput vol t age as
) sin( V V
SM min
=
or
|
|

\
|
=

SM
min 1
V
V
sin (1)
As i s evi dent f rom Fi gure 2, t he di scharge t i me f or t he capaci t or i s
( ) +

= 5 . 0
1
T
D
(2)
Let us move t he ref erence t o t he cent er of t he f i r st peak as shown. Then, t he
unf i l t ered wavef or m f ol l ows a cosi ne f unct i on such t hat
) t cos( V ) t ( v
SM O
=

PE/ 424UCR/ FWRC/ Febr uar y 9, 2006 Ful l - wave r ect i f i er wi t h a capaci t or f i l t er
3
The capaci t or di scharge equat i on can al so be wr i t t en as
C R
t
SM C
e V ) t ( v

=
We obt ai n t he mi ni mum vol t age across t he capaci t or when t = T
D
. That i s
C R
T
SM min
D
e V V

=
or
|
|

\
|
=
min
M
D
V
V
ln C R T
Subst i t ut i ng f or T
D
f rom (2. 61) and af t er some rear rangi ng, we obt ai n an
expressi on f or C as
|
|

\
|

+
=
min
M
V
V
ln R
5 . 0
C (3)
Fi nal l y, we subst i t ut e f or and obt ai n an exact expressi on f or C as
|
|

\
|

|
|

\
|
+
=

min
M
M
min 1
V
V
ln R
V
V
sin 5 . 0
C (4)
We now i l l ust rat e t he use of above equat i ons wi t h a desi gn exampl e.

EXAMPLE ___________________________________________________
A f ul l -wave rect i f i er suppl i es power t o a resi st i ve l oad wi t h a resi st ance of 20-
k. The i nput vol t age t o t he rect i f i er i s gi ven as ) t 120 sin( 34 ) t ( v
S
= V. A
capaci t or i s pl aced acr oss t he l oad t o cont rol t he vol t age ri ppl e t o about 10%.
Det er mi ne t he si ze of t he capaci t or.
Sol uti on: We def i ned percent ri ppl e as
|
|

\
|
=
SM
min SM
V
V V
VR % 100
where
34 V
SM
= V.
PE/ 424UCR/ FWRC/ Febr uar y 9, 2006 Ful l - wave r ect i f i er wi t h a capaci t or f i l t er
4
Subst i t ut i ng %VR = 10, we obt ai n
6 . 30 V 9 . 0 V
SM min
= = V .
From (1), t he angl e at whi ch t he capaci t or begi ns t o charge i s
rad 12 . 1 ) 9 . 0 ( sin
V
V
sin
1
SM
min 1
=
|
|

\
|
=


Usi ng (4), we obt ai n t he requi red capaci t ance as

( )
F 39 . 3
9 . 0
1
ln 10 20 120
9 . 0 sin 5 . 0
C
3
1
=
|

\
|

+
=

Let us sel ect a commonl y avai l abl e 4 F capaci t or f or t hi s appl i cat i on. For t he
saf e operat i on, t he mi ni mum vol t age rat i ng of t he capaci t or must be 34 V.
Pri or t o comput i ng t he average val ue of t he out put vol t age, l et us f i r st def i ne an
angl e such t hat

|
|

\
|
+ = + = =

M
min 1
D
V
V
sin 5 . 0 5 . 0 T
Subst i t ut i ng 6 . 30 V 9 . 0 V
SM min
= = V, we obt ai n = 2. 691 rad.
The dc val ue of t he out put vol t age many now be comput ed as

0
C R
t
SM
DC , O
t d ) t ( cos t d e
V
V

+
|
|

\
|

sin e 1 C R
V
C R SM
(5)

For 34 V
SM
= V
and
R C = 120 20 10
3
4 10
- 6
= 30. 16 rad
The average out put vol t age i s
6 . 32 V
DC , O
= V.
PE/ 424UCR/ FWRC/ Febr uar y 9, 2006 Ful l - wave r ect i f i er wi t h a capaci t or f i l t er
5
As expect ed, t he average val ue of t he out put vol t age i s al most t he same as t hat
obt ai ned ear l i er f or t he hal f - wave capaci t or f i l t er. However, t he capaci t or si ze
has been reduced t o al most one-hal f of t hat of t he hal f -wave capaci t or f i l t er.
Thus, a f ul l -wave rect i f i er does not onl y have t wi ce t he rect i f i cat i on ef f i ci ency of
a hal f - wave rect i f i er, i t al so reduces t he si ze of t he capaci t or by about one-hal f
t o obt ai n t he same per cent r i ppl e.
_________________________________________________________________

An Approxi mate Expressi on for C for a Ful l -wave Recti fi er
When t he per cent ri ppl e i s l ess t han 10% or so, we can si mpl i f y t he anal ysi s t o
det ermi ne t he si ze of a capaci t or by maki ng t he f ol l owi ng assumpt i ons:
(a) Capaci t or di scharge t i me i s near l y equal t o t he t i me-per i od of t he i nput
wavef or m.
(b) Capaci t or di scharge i s l i near.
(c) The t i me t aken by t he capaci t or t o charge f rom i t s mi ni mum vol t age t o t he
maxi mum vol t age i s so smal l t hat i t can be negl ect ed.
Wi t h t he above assumpt i ons, t he modi f i ed out put vol t age i s gi ven i n Fi gure 2. 34.


Fi gure 3: Fi l tered waveform of a f ul l -wave recti fi er when the capaci t or
di scharges l i nearl y

PE/ 424UCR/ FWRC/ Febr uar y 9, 2006 Ful l - wave r ect i f i er wi t h a capaci t or f i l t er
6
Once agai n, l et us set our ref erence axi s at t he peak of t he f i rst unf i l t ered
wavef or m as shown i n t he f i gure. Then, t he capaci t or di scharge equat i on can be
wr i t t en as
C R
t
SM C
e V ) t ( v

=
At t = T/ 2, where T i s t he t i me-peri od of t he i nput vol t age source, t he
capaci t or di scharges t o i t s mi ni mum val ue
min
V . That i s,

C R 2
T
SM min
e V V

=
For smal l changes i n t he vol t age across t he capaci t or t he above equat i on may
be approxi mat ed as

|

\
|
=
RC 2
T
1 V V
SM min

From t hi s equat i on, we can obt ai n C as

( )
min SM
SM
V V R 2
T V
C

= (6)
Subst i t ut i ng
PP min SM
VR V V = and T = 1/f i n t he above equat i on, we
obt ai n an expressi on f or C i n t er ms of t he peak-t o-peak vol t age and t he
f requency of t he i nput wave as
PP
SM
VR R f 2
V
C = (7)
Usi ng t he def i ni t i on of percent ri ppl e as
100
V
V V
VR %
SM
min SM
|
|

\
|
=
we can al so express C f rom (7) i n t er ms of t he percent ri ppl e as
) VR (% R f 2
100
C = (8)
PE/ 424UCR/ FWRC/ Febr uar y 9, 2006 Ful l - wave r ect i f i er wi t h a capaci t or f i l t er
7
There are t hree approxi mat e equat i ons at our di sposal , (6), (7) and (8), t o
comput e C. Once agai n, each of t hese equat i ons yi el ds an accept abl e val ue of
C as l ong as per cent r i ppl e ( %VR) i s 10% or so.
Let us see t he error i nt roduced by usi ng t he approxi mat e equat i on t o
comput e C f or t he above exampl e where t he percent ri ppl e was gi ven as 10%.
Si nce we know t he per cent r i ppl e, we use (8) t o comput e C as
F 17 . 4
10 10 20 60 2
100
C
3
=

=
I n t he above exampl e, we obt ai n C as 3. 39 F but we sel ect ed a st andard
4F capaci t or f or our ci rcui t . Once agai n, t he val ue of C usi ng t he approxi mat e
met hod i s somewhat hi gher t han t hat obt ai ned usi ng t he exact expr essi on. A
l arge val ue of C i s bet t er f rom t he vol t age regul at i on poi nt of vi ew but may not
be desi rabl e f rom t he cost poi nt of vi ew.
Si nce t he capaci t or di scharge i s t reat ed as l i near, i t i s rat her si mpl e t o
det ermi ne t he average val ue of t he f i l t ered wavef or m as

2
V V
V
min SM
DC , O
+
=
For t he val ues gi ven i n t he above exampl e, we have
34 V
SM
= V
and
6 . 30 V
min
= V.
Usi ng t hese val ues, we obt ai n
3 . 32 V
DC , O
= V
Compare i t wi t h t he average val ue of 32. 6 V obt ai ned usi ng t he exact equat i on
(2. 64) i n t he above exampl e.