Department of Electronic and Communications Engineering

Fourth Stage
Power Electronics Lab
Exp. No. 1: Single Phase Half-Wave Rectifier with Resistive Load

1. Instructional Objectives
On completion, the student will be able to
 Analyze the operation of single-phase half-wave rectifier supply resistive.
 Define and calculate the characteristics parameters of the voltage and current
waveforms.
 Simulate the circuit with computer software package (MATLAB).
2. Introduction
 Rectification is one of most widely used in power-electronic applications. It
refers to the process of converting an AC voltage or current source to DC
voltage and current. Rectifiers specially refer to power electronic converters
where the electrical power flows form the AC side to the DC side. In this Lab,
principle and analysis of half-wave rectifier circuit, which is connected in
different types of loads (resistive, inductive), will be discussed.

Points of interest in the analysis will be

 Waveform and characteristics values (average, RMS) of the rectified voltage
and current.
 Influence of the load type on the rectified voltage and current.
In the analysis, following simplifying assumptions will be made
 The internal impedance of the AC source is zero.
 Power electronic devices used in rectifier are ideal switches.

1
 The output voltage and current of this rectifier are strongly influenced by the
type of the load. In this Lab, the operation of rectifier with resistive loads will
be highlighted.

 The rectifier circuit is the simplest and most widely used at small power levels.

(a)

(b)
Fig.1. (a) and (b) Simulation circuit diagram and Half-wave rectifier waveforms
with resistive load (R=5 Ω), respectively.

2
Fig. 1 shows the circuit diagram and the waveforms of a half-wave rectifier. If the
switch S (diode) is closed at t = 0, the diode becomes forward biased. Since the AC
input voltage is sinusoidal and it is given in the form
𝑣𝑆 = 𝑉𝑚 sin 𝜔𝑡.

The dc output voltage is

1 𝜋 𝑉𝑚
𝑉𝑑𝑐 = ∫ 𝑉𝑚 sin 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝜔𝑡 = ,
2𝜋 0 𝜋

the rms input voltage source is

1 𝜋 𝑉𝑚
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √ ∫ (𝑉𝑚 sin 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝜔𝑡)2 = .
2𝜋 0 2

The average value of the DC output current is

𝑉𝑑𝑐
𝐼𝑑𝑐 = .
𝑅𝐿

The rms of the DC input current is

𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠
𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 = .
𝑅𝐿

Hence, the efficiency of rectification is

𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝐼𝑑𝑐
𝜂= = .
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠

3
Discussion:
1. A 1-phase 230V, 1KW heater is connected across a 1-phase half wave
rectifier (diode based). What is the power delivered to the heater and the
efficiency of the rectification?

2. For the circuit shown, the output voltage is never be zero, explain?

3. Re-connect Figure 1. (a) with RL equal to 50 ohms, and sketch the waveforms
of input voltage, output voltage, and output current. Compare the results with
the results in Figure 1. By calculation of:

a. The dc output voltage.

b. The r.m.s. input voltage source.
c. The average value of the DC output current.
d. The r.m.s. of the DC input current.
e. The efficiency of rectification.

4. What is the advantages and disadvantages of half wave rectifier with resistive
load?
5. Give three applications of half wave rectifier with resistive load.