Rectifiers do the wave

Ma. Reneeza E. Galimba*

Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics, CAS, UPLB
*rengalimba@gmail.com

Abstract
The exercise determined the operation behind different rectifier circuit
configurations. The exercise consisted of four set-ups in which the first was
a half wave rectification while the other three were for full wave
rectification. The plot of the half have rectification only showed the positive
half cycle of the waveform while on the full wave rectification, both the
positive and negative half cycles were shown. On the last circuit, the
capacitor converted the waveforms that passed through the diodes into a
smoother DC output.

1. Introduction
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current in which the current flow is sinusoidal. On the other hand,
direct current (DC) is an electric current in which the current flows in one direction only. AC input needs a
rectifier to convert it into DC input so that the flow of current is stable. A diode can act as a rectifier for AC
signals and can rectify with either half wave or full wave rectification.
The main objective of the exercise is to determine the in depth operation behind the different rectifier circuit
configurations. The exercise also aims to implement the half wave, full wave center tapped, and full wave
bridge rectifier circuit, to determine the output waveform of the half wave, full wave center tapped, and full
wave bridge rectifier circuit, to determine the output waveform of the full wave bridge rectifier circuit with a
filter capacitor, to determine the effect of varying the capacitance on the output waveform, implement the
circuits on software simulation and to compare the results of the software simulation from the hardware
implementation.

2. Methodology
The exercise consisted of four set-ups and the materials used were a 1N4001 diode, an oscilloscope, a 9V
center-tapped AC transformer, a breadboard, a 15k resistor, a 200F and 1200F capacitors, and connecting
wires. In the first set-up, the circuit was constructed as shown in figure 3.1 and the input and output waveform
was measured on the oscilloscope. The circuit was also simulated on the software and the obtained waveform
from the simulation was compared to the implemented circuit.

Figure 3.1. Half-wave rectifier circuit.

The second set-up was the full wave center tapped rectifier which was shown in figure 3.2. The input and
output waveform was also measured on the oscilloscope.

Figure 3.2. Full wave center tapped rectifier circuit.

The last two set-ups was the full wave bridge rectifier (figure 3.3) and the full wave bridge rectifier with
varying capacitor filters (figure 3.4). The value of the capacitor was changed from 0.47F to 10F for the last
circuit and the effect of the ripples of the output waveform was determined.

Figure 3.3. Full wave bridge rectifier circuit.

Figure 3.4. Full wave bridge rectifier circuit with varying capacitor filters.

3. Results and Discussion

In the first part of the exercise, the implemented circuit produced a half waveform which had a peak voltage
of 9V. The simulated graph of the peak voltage was shown in figure 3.5, the same with the output from the
actual circuit.

Figure 3.5. Voltage versus time graph of half wave rectification.

It could be seen in the graph that instead of a sinusoidal waveform, it was only the positive half cycle that
was read by the oscilloscope and the negative half cycle was cut off from the graph. This was because the diode
acted as a rectifier that converted the AC input into DC input and only the positive half of the AC input passed
through the diode and the negative half of the input was blocked. Also, the diode was forward biased so the
negative half cycle of the AC input did not pass through the diode.
On the second part of the exercise, the obtained graph of the waveform was the same with the obtained
waveform of the third part which was shown in figure 3.6.

Figure 3.6. Voltage versus current plot of full wave rectification using bridge circuit.

On the center tapped rectification, one diode was forward biased on the positive half cycle of the input signal
and the other diode was forward biased on the negative half cycle of the input signal and both the diodes were

connected to the resistor. The current that passed through the resistor had the same direction for both half cycles
so the resulting plot was the same with the bridge rectifier.
On the bridge rectification, the positive half cycle of the AC input passed through two diodes (D1 and D2)
while the negative half cycle passed through the other two diodes (D3 and D4). Because of this, full wave cycle
of the AC input was converted into DC input and when it passed through the resistor, the resulting waveform
was shown in figure 3.6. The obtained plot from the full-wave bridge rectification was shown in figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7. Actual plot of the full-wave bridge rectification circuit.

Lastly, the waveform of the bridge rectifier with varying capacitor filters circuit was shown in figure 3.8 for
both 0.47F and 10F. The obtained plot from the simulation (which could be seen in figure 3.9) was roughly
the same with the plot from the actual set-up. It could be seen in the plot that the waveform was slanted to the
right and this was because the capacitor smoothened the DC output that passed through the diode. The rise of
the waveform was the charging of the capacitor and when it reached its limit, it discharged and could be seen as
the fall of the waveform. An illustration of this was shown in figure 3.10.

Figure 3.9. Actual plot of the full-wave bridge rectification with 0.47F (left) and 10F (right) capacitors.

Figure 3.9. Plot of output waveform from the simulation for both 0.47F (left) and 10F (right) capacitors.

Figure 3.10. Sample illustration of output waveform of bridge circuit with varying capacitor.

4. Conclusion
In the half wave rectification, the plot showed that the diode rectified only the positive half cycle of the AC
input and this was because the negative half cycle of the AC input could not pass through the diode as it was
forward biased. In the full wave rectification, the plot showed the positive and negative (flipped towards the
positive) half cycles of the AC input because the diodes were divided into the forward bias and reversed bias
resulting to having a full waveform. Lastly, the capacitor converted the waveform into a smoother waveform as
to mimic the DC output current.

References
1.
2.

Storr, W. (2015). Full wave rectifier and bridge rectifier theory. Retrieved September 14, 2015 from
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/diode/diode_6.html
What is a standard rectifier? Retrieved September 14, 2015 from http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/
diodes/standard-rectifiers.aspx