RECTIFIERS with FILTERS

Rectifier is a device which converts bidirectional signal into unidirectional signal. Or

Rectifier is a device which converts AC signal into Pulsating DC signal. Rectifiers may be
classified into three types namely Half Wave Rectifier (HWR), Full Wave Rectifier (FWR)
and Bridge Rectifier (BR).

Half Wave Rectifier: The AC signal to be rectified is applied to a single diode and load resistor
through a transformer.

During positive half cycle of AC input voltage, the diode D is forward biased and hence it
conducts. It acts as a closed switch. For an ideal diode, the voltage drop across it is zero. Hence,
the whole input voltage appears across the load resistance RL.

During negative half cycle of AC input voltage, the diode D is reverse biased and hence it does
not conduct. The whole input voltage appears across the diode D. Hence, the voltage drop
across the load resistor is zero.

The Half Wave Rectifier circuit along with its input and output waveforms is shown below.

Analysis of Half Wave Rectifier:

DC output voltage:

1 2𝜋 1 𝜋 2𝜋
𝑉𝑑𝑐 = ∫ 𝑉𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 = [∫ 𝑉𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 + ∫ 0 𝑑𝜃]
2𝜋 0 2𝜋 0 𝜋

−𝑉𝑚 𝑉𝑚
𝑉𝑑𝑐 = [ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜋 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠0] =
2𝜋 𝜋
𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑑𝑐 = 𝐷𝐶 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 = =
𝑅𝐿 𝜋𝑅𝐿

𝑉𝑚
𝑏𝑢𝑡 = 𝐼𝑚
𝑅𝐿
 𝐼𝑚
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼𝑑𝑐 =
𝜋
If forward resistance of the diode is considered then

𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑚 =
𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿

𝐼𝑚 𝑉𝑚
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼𝑑𝑐 = =
𝜋 𝜋(𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 )

RMS value AC output voltage:

1 2𝜋
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √[2𝜋 ∫0 𝑉𝑚2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 𝑑𝜃]

𝑣2
𝑚 𝜋
√[ 4𝜋 ∫0 (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜃)𝑑𝜃]

2
𝑉𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑛2𝜃 𝜋
√ [𝜃 − ]0
4𝜋 2

𝑉𝑚2
√ [𝜋 − 0]
4𝜋

2
𝑣𝑚
√
4
𝑉𝑚
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 =
2
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉𝑚 𝐼𝑚
𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐶 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑅𝐿 = = =
𝑅𝐿 2𝑅𝐿 2

If forward resistance of the diode is considered then

𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑚 =
𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿

𝐼𝑚 𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 = =
2 2(𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 )

Ripple Factor: it may be defined as ratio of AC component to Dc component present in the

output.

𝐴𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠
𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝐷𝐶 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑉𝑑𝑐
 𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐶 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.

𝑉𝑑𝑐 = 𝐷𝐶 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.

𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.

2 2
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 + 𝑉𝑑𝑐

2 2
𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 − 𝑉𝑑𝑐

𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉 2
𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = √( 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 ) − 1
𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑑𝑐

But in the case of Half Wave Rectifier,

𝑉𝑚 𝜋 2
𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡[( ∗ ) − 1] = 1.21
2 𝑉𝑚

According to the above equation, the AC component voltage is 1.21 times Dc component
voltage present in the output. Due to this reason Half Wave Rectifier is not preferable in any
practical application.

Rectifier Efficiency: It may be defined as ratio of DC output power to Ac input power and
expressed in terms of percentage.

𝐷𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = ∗ 100
𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

2
2
𝐼𝑚 ∗ 𝑅𝐿
𝐷𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝐼𝑑𝑐 ∗ 𝑅𝐿 =
𝜋2

2
2
𝐼𝑚 (𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 )
𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 (𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 ) =
4

𝐷𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 400

𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = ∗ 100 = 2 = 40.6% 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑅𝐿 ≫ 𝑅𝑓
𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝜋

Theoretically maximum Rectifier efficiency for Half Wave Rectifier is 40.6%.

Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF): It may be defined as the ratio of DC power

delivered to the load to AC rating of the transformer secondary.

𝑷𝒅𝒄
𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝑼𝑭 =
𝑷𝒂𝒄,𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅

𝑉𝑚
In HWR, the rated voltage of transformer secondary is √2
. But actual RMS current flows through the
𝐼𝑚
secondary is 2
.
 2
𝐼𝑑𝑐 ∗ 𝑅𝐿
𝑇𝑈𝐹 =
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 ∗ 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠

𝐼𝑚 𝑉𝑚 𝐼𝑚
𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼𝑑𝑐 = , 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 =
𝜋 √2 2

2√2
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑇𝑈𝐹 = = 0.287
𝜋2

Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV): It is the maximum reverse voltage that a diode can withstand without
destroying the junction. For HWR, PIV is 𝑉𝑚 .

Full wave Rectifier: The AC voltage to be rectified is applied to the following circuit using
Centre tapped transformer.

During positive half cycle of ac input voltage, terminal M is positive with respect to terminal
G and terminal N is negative with respect to terminal G. Due to this diode D1 is forward biased
and diode D2 is reverse biased and hence D1 conducts and D2 does not conducts. Resultant,
the current I flows through load resistance and diode D1. For an ideal diode, the voltage drop
across D1 is zero. Hence, the whole positive half cycle is appeared across load resistance.

During negative half cycle of ac input signal, terminal M is negative with respect to terminal
G and terminal N is positive with respect to terminal G. Due to this diode D1 is reverse biased
and diode D2 is forward biased and hence D2 conducts and D1 does not conducts. Resultant,
the current I flows through load resistance and diode D2. The direction of current flows through
load resistance is same as that of current flows during positive half cycle. Hence whole negative
half cycle is appeared across load resistance in positive direction.

The full wave rectifier circuit along its input and output waveforms is shown below.

Analysis of Full Wave Rectifier:

1 𝜋 𝑉𝑚 2𝑉𝑚
DC output voltage: 𝑉𝑑𝑐 = 𝜋 ∫0 𝑉𝑚 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 = [−𝐶𝑜𝑠 𝜋 + 𝐶𝑜𝑠 0] =
𝜋 𝜋

𝑉𝑑𝑐 2𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑑𝑐 = 𝐷𝐶 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 = =
𝑅𝐿 𝜋𝑅𝐿
 𝑉𝑚
𝑏𝑢𝑡 = 𝐼𝑚
𝑅𝐿

2𝐼𝑚
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼𝑑𝑐 =
𝜋
If forward resistance of the diode is considered then

𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑚 =
𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿

2𝐼𝑚 2𝑉𝑚
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼𝑑𝑐 = =
𝜋 𝜋(𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 )

RMS value AC output voltage:

1 𝜋
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √[𝜋 ∫0 𝑉𝑚2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 𝑑𝜃]

2
𝑣𝑚 𝜋
√[ ∫ (1 −
2𝜋 0
𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜃)𝑑𝜃]

2
√𝑉𝑚 [𝜃 − 𝑆𝑖𝑛2𝜃]𝜋0
2𝜋 2

𝑉𝑚2
√ [𝜋 − 0]
2𝜋

2
𝑣𝑚
√
2
𝑉𝑚
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 =
√2
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉𝑚 𝐼𝑚
𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐶 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑅𝐿 = = =
𝑅𝐿 √2 𝑅𝐿 √2

If forward resistance of the diode is considered then

𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑚 =
𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿

𝐼𝑚 𝑉𝑚
𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 = =
√2 √2 (𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 )

Ripple Factor: it may be defined as ratio of AC component to Dc component present in the

output.
 𝐴𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠
𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝐷𝐶 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑉𝑑𝑐

𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐶 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.

𝑉𝑑𝑐 = 𝐷𝐶 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.

𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.

2 2
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 + 𝑉𝑑𝑐

2 2
𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 − 𝑉𝑑𝑐

𝑉𝑟,𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉 2
𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = √( 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 ) − 1
𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑑𝑐

But in the case of Full Wave Rectifier,

𝑉𝑚 2𝜋 2
𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡[( ∗
) − 1] = 0.48
√2 𝑉𝑚

Rectifier Efficiency: It may be defined as ratio of DC output power to Ac input power and
expressed in terms of percentage.

𝐷𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = ∗ 100
𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

2
2
4𝐼𝑚 ∗ 𝑅𝐿
𝐷𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝐼𝑑𝑐 ∗ 𝑅𝐿 =
𝜋2

2
2
𝐼𝑚 (𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 )
𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 (𝑅𝑓 + 𝑅𝐿 ) =
2

𝐷𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 800

𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = ∗ 100 = 2 = 81.2% 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑅𝐿 ≫ 𝑅𝑓
𝐴𝐶 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝜋

Theoretically maximum Rectifier efficiency for Full wave Rectifier is twice that of Half Wave
Rectifier.

Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV): It is the maximum reverse voltage that a diode can withstand without
destroying the junction.

For FWR, PIV is 2𝑉𝑚 .

Bridge Rectifier:
In bridge rectifier, four diodes are used. These four diodes are arranged in the form of a
bridge.

During positive half cycle of ac input voltage, terminal M is positive with respect to terminal
N. Due to this diodes D1 and D3 are forward biased and diodes D2 and D4 are reverse biased
and hence D1 and D3 conduct and D2 and D4 does not conduct. Resultant, the current I flows
to the load resistance through diodes D1and D3. For ideal diodes, the voltage drop across them
is zero. Hence, the whole positive half cycle is appeared across load resistance.

During the negative half cycle of ac input voltage, terminal M is negative with respect to
terminal N. Due to this diodes D1 and D3 are reverse biased and diodes D2 and D4 are
forward biased and hence D2 and D4 conduct and diodes D1 and D3 does not conduct.
Resultant, the current I flows to the load resistance through diodes D2 and D4. The direction
of current flows through load resistance is same as that of current flows during positive half
cycle. Hence whole negative half cycle is appeared across load resistance in positive direction.

The Bridge Rectifier circuit along with its input and output waveforms is shown below.

The analysis of Bridge Rectifier is same as that of a Full Wave Rectifier.

2𝑉𝑚 2𝐼𝑚 𝑉𝑚
𝑉𝑑𝑐 = , 𝐼𝑑𝑐 = , 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = ,
𝜋 𝜋 √2
𝐼𝑚
𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 = , 𝑅𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 0.48, 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 81.2%
√2

Theoretically maximum Rectifier efficiency for Bridge Rectifier is twice that of Half Wave
Rectifier.

Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV): It is the maximum reverse voltage that a diode can withstand
without destroying the junction. For positive half cycle of input, the diodes D1 and D3 are
forward biased. On the other hand, the diodes D2 and D4 are reverse biased. These diodes
have maximum reverse voltage equal to 𝑉𝑚 . Therefore, PIV of a diode in a Bridge Rectifier
is 𝑉𝑚 .