Half Wave and Full Wave Rectifiers:
By: Hafiz Atif Naseer
Rectifiers:
• A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC)
in to pulsating direct current (DC).
• A rectifier utilizes unidirectional conducting device e.g., P-N junction
diodes.
There are two types of rectifiers:
• Half-Wave Rectifier
• Full-Wave Rectifier
Half Wave Rectifier:
• Diodes conduct current in one direction (Forward Bias) and block
in other direction (Reverse Bias).
• When connected with ac voltage, diode only allows half cycle
passing through it and hence convert ac into dc.
• In half wave rectification, either the positive or negative half of
the AC wave is passed, while the other half is blocked.
• As the half of the wave get rectified, the process is called half
wave rectification.
• The ripple factor is quite high.
• Rectifier efficiency is very low (40%).
• The half wave rectifier circuit is normally not used as a power
rectifier circuit.
Half Wave Rectifier:
• A simple half-wave rectifier using a PN junction diode and a load
is shown in Figure.
• During the positive half cycle of the source, the diode is forward
biased and operates as a closed switch.
• The source voltage is directly connected across the load. During
the negative half cycle, the diode is reverse biased and acts as an
open switch.
Output Waveform:
• During the positive half cycle diode D will be forward biased and give
output at load resistor RL and during negative half cycle diode D will
be reverse biased and will be no output at the load resistor.
• Note that the output is pulsating DC.
Half Wave Rectifier:
• Suppose we reverse the diode: now only the negative portion of the
input signal passes through.
• Other than the polarity reversal, DC waveform and its magnitude is
identical.
Half-wave Rectifier
with Capacitor Filter:
The capacitor is the most basic filter
type and is the most commonly
used.
A capacitor filter is connected in
parallel with the load.
During the positive half cycle, diode
D1 will conduct, and the capacitor
charges rapidly.
As the input starts to go negative,
D1 turns off, and the capacitor will
slowly discharge through the load.
Half-wave Rectifier
with Capacitor Filter:
Using the previous half wave rectifier as
an example, figure examines what is
happening with our filter
(a) Unfiltered output from the half wave
rectifier
(b) When the next pulse does arrive, it
charges the capacitor back to full charge
as shown on the right. The thick line
shows the charge discharge waveform
at the capacitor.
(c) The load sees a reasonably constant
DC voltage now, with a ripple voltage on
top of it.
Full Wave Rectifier:
• A full wave rectifier allows unidirectional current through the load
during the entire 360 degree of input cycle.
• Ripple factor is low.
• Rectifier efficiency is high (81.2%).
Types:
• Center-Tapped full wave rectifier
• Full wave bridge rectifier
Center-Tapped full wave rectifier:
• A center-tapped transformer is used with two diodes that conduct on
alternating half-cycles.
• These two diodes are connected to the center tapped secondary
winding of the transformer.
• The positive terminal of two diodes is connected to the two ends of
the transformer.
• Center tap divides the total secondary voltage into equal parts.
• The center-tap is usually considered as the ground point or the zero
voltage reference point.
Center-Tapped full wave rectifier:
• During the positive half- cycle, the upper diode is forward-biased and
the lower diode is reverse-biased.
• During the negative half-cycle, the lower diode is forward-biased and
the upper diode is reverse-biased.
Full Wave Bridge Rectifier:
• The most important disadvantage of the center-tapped rectifier is
that it brings in the use of a heavy transformer with three terminals at
its output.
• The center tapping may not be perfect in most cases. This problem
can be solved by designing another circuit with four diodes and a
simple transformer.
• This is called a full wave bridge rectifier.
Full Wave Bridge Rectifier:
• The Full-Wave Bridge rectifier uses four diodes connected across the
entire secondary winding as shown in figure.
Full Wave Bridge Rectifier :
• When the positive half cycle of the supply goes, D1, D3 diodes
conduct in a series.
• Diodes D2 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through
the load.
• During the negative half cycle, D2 and D4 diodes conduct in a series.
• Diodes D1 and D3 switch off as they are now reverse biased
configuration.
Output Waveform:
• The output voltage is smoother than the output for half-wave
rectification but still not smooth enough for many applications.
Block Diagram of a Power Supply:
