ABSTRACT

A rectifier is an electrical device that

converts alternating current (AC), which
periodically reverses direction, to direct
current (DC), which flows in only one
direction. The process is known as
rectification. Physically, rectifiers take a
number of forms, including vacuum tube
diodes, mercury-arc valves, copper and
selenium oxide rectifiers, semiconductor
diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and
other silicon-based semiconductor switches.
Historically, even synchronous
electromechanical switches and motors have
been used. Rectifiers have many uses,
but are often found serving as
components of DC power supplies and high-
voltage direct current power transmission
systems.
 FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
The circuits which convert alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC) are
known as rectifiers. If such rectifiers rectify both the positive and negative half
cycles of an input alternating waveform, the rectifiers are referred as full wave
rectifiers. Alternatively, we can say, a rectifier is a device that converts
alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). It does it by using a diode or a
group of diodes. We know that a diode permits current only in one direction
and blocks the current in the other. We use this principle to construct various
rectifiers.
We can classify rectifiers into two types:
1. Half Wave Rectifier
2. Full Wave Rectifier
1. Half Wave Rectifier, a significant amount of power gets wasted as the
only one half of each cycle passes through and the other the cycle gets
blocked. Moreover, the half-wave rectifier is not efficient (40.6%) and we
cannot use it for applications which need a smooth and steady DC
output. For more efficient and steadier DC, we will use a full wave
rectifier.
2. A full rectifier converts both halves of each cycle of an alternating wave
(AC signal) into pulsating DC signal

We can further classify full wave rectifiers into

 Centre-tapped Full Wave Rectifier
 Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Centre-tapped Full Wave Rectifier Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

OBJECTIVE:
To construct a full wave bridge rectifier and show that that
Alternating Current is rectified into a Direct Current.

THEORY:
The process of converting AC (which periodically reverses
direction) current into DC (which flows only in one
direction) current is known as Rectification.
The electrical device used to so is known as Rectifier.
Rectifiers have many uses, but are often found serving as
components of DC power supplies and high-voltage direct
current power transmission systems. Rectification may
serve in roles other than to generate direct current for use as
a source of power.
The simple process of rectification produces a type of DC
characterized by pulsating voltages and currents (although
still unidirectional). Depending upon the type of end-use,
this type of DC current may then be further modified into
the type of relatively constant voltage DC characteristically
produced by such sources as batteries and solar cells.
A diode bridge is an arrangement of four (or more) diodes
in a bridge circuit configuration that provides the same
polarity of output for either polarity of input. When used in
its most common application, for conversion of an
alternating current (AC) input into a direct current (DC)
output, it is known as a bridge rectifier. A bridge rectifier
provides full-wave rectification from a two-wire AC input,
resulting in lower cost and weight as compared to a rectifier
with a 3-wire input from a transformer with a center-tapped
secondary winding.
 MATERIALS REQUIRED
A centre-tapped full wave rectifier system consists of:

1. Centre-tapped Transformer
2. Two Diodes
3. Resistive Load

Centre-tapped Transformer: – It is a normal transformer with

one slight modification. It has an addition wire connected to the
exact centre of the secondary winding. This type of construction
divides the AC voltage into two equal and opposite voltages
namely +Ve voltage (Va) and -Ve voltage (Vb). The total output
voltage is
 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

WORKING OF CENTRE-TAPPED FULL WAVE

RECTIFIER
During the positive half-cycle of the AC voltage, terminal 1 will be positive,
centre-tap will be at zero potential and terminal 2 will be negative potential.
This will lead to forward bias in diode D1 and cause current to flow through
it. During this time, diode D2 is in reverse bias and will block current through
it.

During the negative half-cycle of the input AC voltage, terminal 2 will

become positive with relative to terminal 2 and centre-tap. This will lead to
forward bias in diode D2 and cause current to flow through it. During this
time, diode D1 is in reverse bias and will block current through it.

During the positive cycle, diode D1 conducts and during negative cycle diode
D2 conducts and during positive cycle. As a result, both half-cycles are
allowed to pass through. The average output DC voltage here is almost twice
of the DC output voltage of a half wave rectifier.
OBSERVATION:

FILTER CIRCUIT
We get a pulsating DC voltage with a lot of ripples as the output of the
centre-tapped full wave rectifier. We cannot use this pulsating for
practical applications. So, to convert the pulsating DC voltage to pure DC
voltage, we use a filter circuit as shown above. Here we place a capacitor
across the load. The working of the capacitive filter circuit is to short the
ripples and block the DC component so that it flows through another path
and is available across the load. During the positive half-wave, the diode
D1 starts conducting. The capacitor is uncharged, and when we apply an
input AC voltage which happens to be more than the capacitor voltage, it
charges the capacitor immediately to the maximum value of the input
voltage. At this point, the supply voltage is equal to capacitor voltage.

When the applied AC voltage starts decreasing and less than the
capacitor, the capacitor starts discharging slowly but this is slower when
compared to the charging of capacitor and it does not get enough time to
discharge entirely and the charging starts again. So, around half of the
charge present in the capacitor gets discharged. During the negative cycle,
the diode D2 starts conducting, and the above process happens again. This
will cause the current to flow through the same direction across the load

APPLICATIONS
 Because of their low cost compared to center tapped they are widely
used in power supply circuit.
 This can be used to detect the amplitude of modulated radio signal.
 Bridge rectifiers can be used to supply polarized voltage in welding.
 In daily life, rectifier find use in mobile chargers.
MERITS:
 The rectification efficiency of full-wave rectifier is double of that of a half-
wave rectifier.
 The ripple voltage is low and of higher frequency in case of a full-wave
rectifier so simple filtering circuit is required.
 Higher output voltage higher output power and higher TUF in case of a
full-wave rectifier.
 In a full-wave rectifier, there is no problem due to DC saturation of the core
because the DC currents in the two halves of the transformer secondary
flow in opposite directions.

DEMERITS:
Full-wave rectifier needs more circuit elements and is costlier.

CONCLUSION:
The output voltage of the full wave rectifier is not constant, it is always
pulsating. But this cannot be used in real life applications. In other
words, we desire a DC power supply with a constant output voltage. In
order to achieve a smooth and constant voltage a filter with a capacitor
or an inductor is used.