Harmonics

Fundamental Wave

The waveform in a non-sinusoidal wave having frequency at which the system is designed and is
expected to run and/or is being operated is known as fundamental wave. The corresponding
frequency is called fundamental frequency. Fundamental wave is a pure sine wave having
fundamental frequency. In some part of the world like India fundamental frequency is 50 Hz and
other existing value is 60 Hz. Let f be the fundamental frequency in current waveforms, then
fundamental component of current will be

where, I1 is amplitude of fundamental component of current.

Harmonics

Waveforms in a non-sinusoidal wave having frequencies other than fundamental frequency are
called harmonics. The frequency of each harmonic component is known as harmonic frequency. In
most of the cases of periodic and well dened waves, where waveform can be expressed by Fourier
series, harmonic frequencies are integer multiple of fundamental frequency (however it may be
fractional). The integer

factor is known as the order of harmonic component. Let n be the order, then n will be 1, 2, 3, ...,
etc. Harmonic component of current of order n can be represented as

Where In is the amplitude of harmonic component of order n. Integer harmonics are divided into
two categories: odd harmonics and even harmonics. Other than integer harmonics there are sub and
inter harmonics where n is fractional.

Odd Harmonics Integer harmonics having frequencies which are odd integer multiple of
fundamental frequency are known as odd harmonics. Odd harmonics may be expressed as