3 Phase Rectifier with Resistive Load

D1 D2 D3

V1

a
+

V2 +
R1

b
n 10 vo(t)

V3 c
-

-
D4 D5 D6

Voltage Waveforms:
Line to Neutral Voltages:
V(a) V(b) V(c)
100V

80V

60V

40V

20V

0V

-20V

-40V

-60V

-80V

-100V
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms 100ms

D1,D2,D3 select the highest positive voltage for Output + while D4,D5,D6, select the
lowest negative voltage for Output - :
V(+) V(-)
100V

80V

60V

40V

20V

0V

-20V

-40V

-60V

-80V

-100V
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms 100ms

The output voltage is the difference between these two: Please compare the output
voltage with eth line to neutral voltage Van and the line to line voltage Vab, The
ouput voltage rides along the peaks of the line to line voltages. The output voltage has
six ripple pulses per cycle. This is often called a six pulse rectifier.
V(+,-) V(a,b) V(a)
180V

150V

120V

90V

60V

30V

0V

-30V

-60V

-90V

-120V

-150V

-180V
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms 100ms
Current Waveforms:
The output current follows io(t) follows the voltage across the resistor:
I(R1)
20.0A
19.0A
18.0A
17.0A
16.0A
15.0A
14.0A
13.0A
12.0A
11.0A
10.0A
9.0A
8.0A
7.0A
6.0A
5.0A
4.0A
3.0A
2.0A
1.0A
0.0A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms 100ms

When Van is the highest phase voltage D1 conducts and the load current flows out of
phase a supplies the load current. When Van is the lowest phase voltage D4 conducts
and the load current flows back into Phase a. It is important to note taht only one top
diode conducts at a time and only one bottom diode conducts at a time. The following
plot shows the currents in D1 and D4 overlayed onto the Van waveform.
V(a) I(D1) I(D4)
100V 18A

80V 16A

60V 14A

40V 12A

20V 10A

0V 8A

-20V 6A

-40V 4A

-60V 2A

-80V 0A

-100V -2A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms 100ms

And the AC current ia(t) looks like:

-I(V1)
18A

15A

12A

9A

6A

3A

0A

-3A

-6A

-9A

-12A

-15A

-18A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms 100ms

For reference notice how the three ac currents Ia, Ib and Ic line up to provide a
continuous outward and return path for the load current:
-I(V1) -I(V2) -I(V3)
18A

15A

12A

9A

6A

3A

0A

-3A

-6A

-9A

-12A

-15A

-18A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms 100ms
Analysis of 3 phase rectifier with resistive load:
Notation: Let Vm = Peak line to neutral voltage
π
π 3
∫ π cos (ωt )dωt = +
6 2
Useful Integration formula:
−
6
6 4
1. Peak Output Voltage = peak of the line of line voltage = 3 × Vm

2. Average Value of the output voltage may be got by averaging over a single
output pulse and using the fact that the output voltage follows a line to line voltage
π

∫π
6
−
3 × Vm cos(ωt )dωt
3 3
waveform for each pulse. Vo = 6
= Vm = 1.654Vm
2π π
6

3. Similarly we can calculate the rms output voltage by integrating over a single
pulse:
π

∫π( )2
6 3 × Vm cos(ωt ) dωt
− 3 9 3
Vo ( rms ) = 6
= Vm + = 1.655Vm
2π 2 4π
6

4. Since the output current for a resistive load is just vo(t)/R we can now calculate the
rectification ratio (efficiency)
Vo I o V2 R
Re ctification Ratio = = 2o =
Vo ( rms ) I o ( rms ) Vo ( rms ) R
2
3 3 
 Vm  27
 π 
  = π2 = 0.998 or 99.8%
 
2
3 9 3
V 3 + 9 3   + 
 2 4π 
 m 2 4π   
 

5. In order to calculate the ripple factor we must extract the ac component from Vo
using the relationship: Vo ( ac ) = Vo2( rms ) − Vo2

Vo ( ac ) Vo2( rms ) − Vo2 Vo2( rms ) 1

The Ripple factor = = = 2
−1 = − 1 = 0.04 or 4%
Vo Vo V o 0.998
6. In order to calculate the transformer utilisation factor we need to calculate the
rms supply current. The easiest way to do this is to notice that ac input current
waveform is comprised of four pulses of width 2π/6 over a single cycle of width 2π
(remember that positive and negative current contributes equally to the rms).
2
π
 3 × Vm cos(ωt ) 
4 × ∫ 6π   dω t
−  R 
6  V 3 3 V
RMS Ac input current = I s = = m 1+ = 1.352 m
2π R 2π R

Transformer Utilisation Factor =

DC output power V I (1.654V m )(1.654Vm / R )
= o o = = 0.954
Input VA 3 xV s I s Vm Vm
3( )(1.352 )
2 R
Three Phase Rectifier with highly inductive load.
L1
D1 D2 D3
100mH

V1

a
+

V2 +
R1

b
n 10 vo(t)

V3 -
c
-
D4 D5 D6

The ripple frequency in a six pulse rectifier is 6xf where f is the mains frequency. The
1
cut off frequency of an LR filter is . If this cut off frequency is much lower than
L
2π
R
1
the ripple frequency i.e. if 6 f >> then the ripple will be almost entirely
L
2π
R
eliminated leaving a smooth DC load current. The output voltage becomes equal to its
average DC value.

Voltage Waveforms:
Plot showing Van, Vab and vo(t)
V(a) V(a,b) V(+,-)
180V

150V

120V

90V

60V

30V

0V

-30V

-60V

-90V

-120V

-150V

-180V
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms

The smooth DC output voltage results in a pure DC output current so the diode
currents become square pulses and the input ac current is also "squared up".
Current Waveforms with Inductive Load:
Output Current io(t)
I(R1)
20.0A
19.0A
18.0A
17.0A
16.0A
15.0A
14.0A
13.0A
12.0A
11.0A
10.0A
9.0A
8.0A
7.0A
6.0A
5.0A
4.0A
3.0A
2.0A
1.0A
0.0A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms

Diode Current Waveforms for D1 and D4. Notice how much squarer these are than
the corresponding waveforms for a resistive load:
I(D1) I(D4)
20.0A
19.0A
18.0A
17.0A
16.0A
15.0A
14.0A
13.0A
12.0A
11.0A
10.0A
9.0A
8.0A
7.0A
6.0A
5.0A
4.0A
3.0A
2.0A
1.0A
0.0A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms

AC input current for phase a shown with line to neutral voltage for reference:
V(a) -I(V1)
100V 18A

80V 15A

12A
60V
9A
40V
6A
20V 3A

0V 0A

-20V -3A

-6A
-40V
-9A
-60V
-12A
-80V -15A

-100V -18A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms

And all three ac currents are shown meshing together in the next graph:
-I(V1) -I(V2) -I(V3)
18A

15A

12A

9A

6A

3A

0A

-3A

-6A

-9A

-12A

-15A

-18A
0ms 10ms 20ms 30ms 40ms 50ms 60ms 70ms 80ms 90ms
Analysis of 3 phase rectifier with highly inductive load:
Notation: Let Vm = Peak line to neutral voltage

1. Peak Output Voltage = average output voltage = the average of the unfiltered
output voltage of the rectifier = 1.654Vm from before

2. Average Value of the output voltage is the same as before (the inductore
attenuates ripple but does not affect average output voltage)
π

∫π
−
6 3 × Vm cos(ωt )dωt
3 3
Vo = 6
= Vm = 1.654Vm
2π π
6

3. The rms output voltage is trivial in this case because there is no ripple
Vo ( rms ) = Vo = 1.654Vm

4. Since the output current for a resistive load is just vo(t)/R we can now calculate the
rectification ratio (efficiency)
Vo I o V2 R
Re ctification Ratio = = 2o = 100%
Vo ( rms ) I o ( rms ) Vo ( rms ) R

Vo ( ac )
5. Since the ripple is vanishingly small Vo ( ac ) ≈ 0 ⇒ ≈ 0%
Vo
6. In order to calculate the transformer utilisation factor we need to calculate the
rms supply current. The easiest way to do this is to integrate over a half cycle. In each
half cycle there is a square pulse of current of width 2π/3 and amplitude = Io =
1.654Vm/R
π 2
 1.654Vm 
∫−π3  R  dωt
3
1.654Vm 2 1.35Vm
RMS Ac input current = I s = = =
π R 3 R
Transformer Utilisation Factor =
DC output power V I (1.654Vm )(1.654Vm / R )
= o o = = 0.955
Input VA 3 xVs I s Vm Vm
3( )(1.35 )
2 R

Conclusion: The three phase bridge rectifier with resistive load has significantly
lower output voltage ripple and significantly better transformer utilisation than an
unfiltered single phase bridge rectifier. The addition of a sufficiently large filtering
inductor can result in negligible output voltage ripple but does not substantially
improve transformer utilisation over the unfiltered three phase rectifier,