CENTURION UNIVERSITY

OF TECHNOLOGY AND
MANAGEMENT

SUBJECT – ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND SYSTEM

TOPIC – CENTER TAPPED TRANSFORMER FULL WAVE
RECTIFIER

GUIDE BY – SANDIPAN PINE

PRESENTED BY – GUNJA KUMARI (230101120087)
 INTRODUCTION
A centre tapped full wave rectifier is a type of rectifier that uses a centre tapped transformer
and two diodes to convert the complete AC signal into DC signal.
This is called as “full wave center tapped” because there are two full cycles in one complete
cycle of AC voltage.
A 3-phase fully controlled R load
converter is designed for resistive loads.

It has two windings: the primary winding and the secondary winding.
The primary winding is the coil that receives the energy. It is formed, wound, and
fitted over the iron core.
The secondary winding is the coil that provides the energy at a trans- formed or
changed (increased or decreased) voltage.
Working of Center Tapped Full Wave Rectifier:
The two diodes D1 and D2 act as two half-wave rectifiers in which one handles the
positive half-cycle of ac input and the other handles the negative half-cycle of ac input.
The voltage at the center tap on the secondary winding is zero and is considered the
neutral point or ground point.
1. positive half cycle :

2. Negative half cycle :

Therefore, during the positive half-cycle of ac input, diode D 1 conducts and
supplies power to load. Whereas during the negative half-cycle of ac input, diode
D2 conducts and supplies power to load. There will be a very small voltage drop
across two diodes during their conduction period which can be neglected.

In the above figure, we can see that the current enters the load from the
same direction during both positive and negative half cycles. Hence both
halves of the ac input will appear across the load in rectified form (i.e., in
dc form).
Waveforms of Center Tapped Full Wave
Rectifier:
The below shows the waveforms for the input voltage V i, output current Io, output
voltage Vo, and voltage drop across the diodes VD1 and VD2.

In the above waveforms from time period ωt = 0 to π, diode D 1 conducts, and from time
period ωt = π to 2π, diode D2 conducts. Since diode D2 is in OFF-state from ωt = 0 to π,
input voltage appears across D2 from 0 to π. Similarly from ωt = π to 2π input voltage
appears across the diode D1.
Characteristics of Center-Tapped Full Wave
Rectifier:
The characteristics of a center-tapped full-wave rectifier include rectifier efficiency, ripple
factor, peak inverse voltage (PIV), dc output voltage, dc output current, RMS value of
load current, RMS value of load voltage, and form factor.
DC Output Voltage:
The expression for the average value of output voltage is given by,

In the above equation, Vm is the maximum value of the transformer’s secondary voltage.
DC Output Current:
The expression for the average value of output current is given by,
RMS Value of Load Voltage (VRMS) :

The RMS value of voltage across the load is given by,

RMS Value of Load Current (IRMS):

The RMS value of current across the load is given by,
IRMS = VRMS/R = 0.707Vm/R
Efficiency :
Efficiency η = Pdc/Pac
= approximately 81.2%.
Ripple Factor :

Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV): PIV = Vsecondary + Vresistance

PIV = Vm + Vm = 2Vm
Advantages of Center-Tapped Full Wave
Rectifier :
 The efficiency of a full-wave rectifier is twice that of a half-wave rectifier.

 Since both the positive and negative half cycles of ac input are rectified, the
ripple factor is low compared to a half-wave rectifier.

 Low power loss compared to a half-wave rectifier.

 In a half-wave rectifier only either a positive or negative half cycle of ac input

flows in transformer secondary winding, this unidirectional current can saturate
transformer winding. This type of dc saturation is not present in center-tapped
full wave rectifiers.
Disadvantages of Center-Tapped Full Wave
Rectifier :
 The transformer utility factor of a center-tapped rectifier is low because only half of
the transformer’s secondary winding (upper half during the positive cycle and lower
half during the negative cycle) is used to supply power to the load.

 High peak inverse voltage across the diode i.e., 2V m, due to which diodes used in
center-tapped rectifier should have a breakdown voltage twice that of diodes used in
the half-wave rectifier.

 This type of rectifier circuit requires an additional center-tapped transformer which

is expensive and occupies a large space.

 It is difficult to locate the middle point of the transformer secondary winding for
center tapping.