Cebu Institute of Technology

Cebu City

Electronics Engineering Department

ECE 508/523
Industrial Electronics, Laboratory

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Name

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Course & Year

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Instructor

ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 1

 CEBU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Cebu City
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
Electronics Engineering Department

ECE 508
INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS

EXPERIMENT NO. 1
THYRISTOR AND PHASE CONTROL CIRCUITS FUNDAMENTALS

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NAME COURSE & YEAR

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GROUP DATE

I. OBJECTIVE:
 To locate and identify the major components on the THYRISTOR AND POWER
CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board.

 To locate and identify each thyristor in its associated circuit block and verify the results
with information presented in theory and visual observation.

 To describe the basic function and circuit application of each thyristor used in this
experiment and verify the results with the information presented in theory and visual
observation.

II. APPARATUS AND MATERIALS:

 F.A.C.E.T. Base Unit
 THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS Circuit Board

III. THEORY:

Thyristors are semiconductor devices that are primarily used in electronics as

electronically controlled switches.

Many kinds of circuits, such as simple lamp circuits, power supplies, voltage
regulators, or even industrial motors, can be controlled with thyristors.

Figure 1-1. THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board.

Thyristors can be used for power control in both ac and dc circuits. They are very
useful for switching because typically a few milliwatts can control hundreds of watts to a load.

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 The most commonly used thyristor for power control are the reverse blocking triode
thyristor (silicon controlled rectifier - SCR) and the bidirectional triode thyristor (triad). .
NEW TERMS AND WORDS
 silicon controlled rectifier - SCR; a gate - triggered, three - terminal thyristor that
switches only for positive anode-to-cathode voltages and exhibits a reverse blocking
state for negative anode-to-cathode voltages.

 Thyristor - a bistable semiconductor device comprising three or more junctions that

can be switched from the off state to the on state or vice versa.

 Triac - a gate-triggered, three-terminal thyristor that switches for either positive

anode-to-cathode voltages or negative anode-to-cathode voltages.

THYRISTOR COMPONENT FAMILIARIZATION:

The thyristors you will study are the most commonly used in electronic and industrial
applications: the silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) and the triac.
A silicon controlled rectifier (SCR), sometimes referred to as a reverse blocking triode
thyristor, is a three-terminal device used primarily for switching In ac and dc power control.
An SCR is very useful for switching because typically a few milliwatts (gate trigger voltage
times gate trigger current) can control hundreds of watts to a load.
The schematic symbol for an SCR is shown in Figure 1-2.
A

Figure 1-2. SCR schematic symbol.

A triac is a three-terminal, gate-controlled, bidirectional thyristor switch. It operates
much like two inverse SCRs connected in parallel. The triac is capable of conducting with
either polarity of terminal voltage and can be triggered by either polarity of gate signal,
making it an ideal device for power control In ac circuits.

MT2
T2

MT1
T2
Figure 1-3. Triac schematic symbol.
Another thyristor covered in this experiment is the diac. A diac is a two-terminal,
bidirectional thyristor switch. It operates like two inverse diodes connected in parallel. The
diac is generally used in SCR gate triggering applications. Two schematic symbols for a diac
are shown In Figure 1-4.

(a) (b)
Figure 1-4. Diac schematic symbols

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 Also used in the experiment is the unijunction transistor (UJT), which is a single junction
transistor used primarily as a relaxation oscillator for SCR gate triggering delay.
The schematic symbols for a UJT are shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5. Unijunction transistor (UJT) schematic symbols

Specification sheets, usually available from the device manufacturer, are very important
in your work with thyristors. All of the significant parameters unique to a particular device, such
as current (IH) and gate voltage (VG), are included in the specification sheets. A typical
specification sheets is shown In Figure 1-6.
The THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board is divided into five
circuit blocks. four of which contain thyristors. They are the GILICON CONTROLLED
RECTIFIER (SCR) circuit block, the TRIAC AC POWER CONTROL circuit block, the SCR DC
GATE HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE circuit block, and the SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-
WAVE AND FULL-WAVE/MOTOR circuit block.
THYRISTOR CIRCUIT FUNDAMENTALS:
The THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board is separated into
four thyristor circuit blocks. The fifth block, the DRIVER circuit block, is used in conjunction
with three of the thyristor blocks.
The DRIVER circuit block contains a transformer and some amplification circuitry that
will properly match the external generator to the circuits on the board. In this and all
remaining units, you will use the DRIVER circuit block in conjunction with all circuits where an
ac voltage is used. The DRIVER circuit block is designed to properly match any generator
impedance to the circuit impedance.
In previous experiments, you may recall using a GENERATOR BUFFER when the
generator did not have an output impedance of 50Q. This buffer provided the impedance
matching for those circuits. With the THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit
board, you can connect the DRIVER circuit block output to the ac inputs of the circuit (at the
points on the circuits denoted by the ac source symbol) simply by connecting the generator to
the input of the DRIVER circuit block. You should make all measurements of the generator
signal (magnitude and frequency) at the specific circuit input and not at the DRIVER. Once
the generator is connected to the DRIVER circuit block, you should treat the generator as if it
were connected directly to the specific circuit.
The ac source terminals of a specific circuit block, where used, are indicated by the
symbol shown in Figure 1-12.

Figure 1-12. AC source symbol.

Another feature of the THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board
is a floating ground, which allows the common on each circuit to be free from connection to
earth ground. The power supply, oscilloscope, and generator are all connected to earth
ground through the wall outlet In which they are plugged. On previous circuit boards, all
oscilloscope ground connections had to be made to the common terminals of the circuits:
otherwise, a short would occur because the oscilloscope ground lead is the same point (earth
ground) as the common terminal of the circuit, as shown in Figure 1-13(a). On the
THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board, the common terminal is not

ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 7

the same point as the oscilloscope ground lead. due in part to the isolation of the DRIVER
circuit block. Therefore, you can place the oscilloscope probe across any two junctions in the
circuit. as shown in Figure 1-13(b). A floating ground eliminates the need to use the ADD-
INVERT method of observing a signal across a circuit component that is not connected to
common.

The ground leads of the oscilloscope probes are connected together through the oscilloscope
chassis ground. If you use both at the same time. you must connect them to the same point on
the circuit to avoid an unwanted short, as shown in Figure 1-14.

The SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR) circuit block is a basic SCR circuit that
includes provisions for monitoring different parameters of an SCA. The SILICON
CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR) circuit block schematic is shown in Figure 1-15.

ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 8

The SCR DC GATE HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE circuit black uses a dc voltage at the
gate of an SCR to control turn-on of the SCR, which may be configured as a half-wave
rectifier or may be controlling a half-wave or full wave rectifier. Figure 1-16 shows the SCR
DC GATE HALF-WAVE AND FULLWAVE circuit block.

The SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE/MOTOR circuit block
uses ac voltage with or without a UJT at the gate of an SCR. The SCR controls
conduction of a half-wave or full-wave rectifier to either a resistive or motor load. The
SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-WAVE AND FULLWAVE/MOTOR circuit block is shown
in Figure 1-17.

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 The TRIAC AC POWER CONTROL circuit block uses a triac to switch ac to the
load. The triac gate circuit determines half-wave or full-wave switching.

Figure 1-18. shows the TRIAC AC POWER CONTROL circuit block.

IV. PROCEDURE:
THYRISTOR COMPONENT FAMILIARIZATION:
1. Study the schematic symbol of the SCR shown in Figure 1-8. What are the three
terminals labeled?

Figure 1-8 SCR schematic symbol

2. Study the schematic symbol of the triac shown in Figure 1-9. What are the three
terminals labeled?

ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 10

 MT1

MT2

Figure 1-9. Triac schematic symbol

3. Study the schematic symbol of the UJT shown in Figure 1-10. What are the three
terminals labeled?

Figure 1-10. Unijunction transistor (UJT) schematic symbol

4. Look at the SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR) circuit block on the
THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board. What thyristor is the
main active component of this circuit block?
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5. Look at the TRIAC AC POWER CONTROL circuit block. What thyristor is the main
active component of this circuit block?
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6. Look at the SCR DC GATE HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE circuit block. What is the
main active component of this circuit block?
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7. Which circuit block uses a unijunction transistor (UJT)?
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8. What thyristor is the main active component of the SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-
WAVE AND FULL-WAVE/MOTOR circuit block?
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THYRISTOR CIRCUIT FUNDAMENTALS:

NOTE: Ensure that all connectors are removed from the board.

9. Locate the DRIVER circuit block on the THYRISTOR AND POWER

CONTROL CIRCUITS circuit board (Figure 1-19 shows the DRIVER circuit
block schematic). The input to the DRIVER circuit block is labeled GEN for
generator. Look at the output symbol. which is the ac source for the thyristor
circuit blocks.

ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 11

 10. Which circuit blocks have the ac source signal (the DRIVER output)
available?

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11. Locate the SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR) circuit block. If you
used a two-post connector, could you connect resistor R4 to potentiometer
R3?

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12. Would you then have power applied to the SCR circuit?

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13. What would you have to do to apply power to the SCR circuit?
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14. Locate the SCR DC GATE HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE circuit block. If
you used a two-post connector to connect switch S1 to the variable dc
voltage source, could you measure a dc voltage at the SCR gate (G) when
S1 is pressed?

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15. Would you be able to measure a dc voltage at the anode (A) of the SCR
when S 1 is pressed?
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16. If CR1 were connected in the SCR circuit, could CR1 act as a half-wave
rectifier?
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17. The diodes in CR2 form what type of circuit configuration?

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ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 12
 18. Can the ac source voltage be connected to the SCR gate (G) with a two-post
connector?

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19. Locate the SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-WAVE AND FULL-
WAVE/MOTOR circuit block. If you used a two-post connector to connect the
ac source voltage to potentiometer R2, another to connect R3 to CR2, and
another to connect CR2 to the gate (G) of the SCR, would there be an ac
path to the SCR gate (G)?

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20. If you then inserted a two-post connector between R8 and the SCR anode
(A), would this connection also comprise a path from the ac source to the
SCR anode (A)?
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21. Can the ac source be full-wave rectified before it goes to the SCR circuit?
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22. What component(s) accomplishes full-wave rectification in this circuit?

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23. Can CR2 in the gate (G) circuit of the SCR be substituted with the UJT?

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24. Can resistor R8 in the anode (A) circuit of the SCR be substituted with a
motor?

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25. Does the SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE/MOTOR circuit
block use any dc voltage sources?
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26. Locate the TRIAC AC POWER CONTROL circuit block. Look carefully at the triac
circuit. What voltage sources can be connected, using two-post connectors, to the triac
gate (G) terminal through R6?

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27. What voltages can be connected, using two-post connectors, to the triac MT2 terminal
through R6?

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ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 13

 28. Look closely at the gate (G) circuit of the triac. If a two-post connecter were inserted
from G to R3, would CR1 and CR2 be connected to the-gate (G) of the triac?

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29. Would both CR1 and CR2 be connected from the gate through R3 to the R2 and C1
junction?

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30. Can two-post connectors be used to modify the thyristor circuit blocks?

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V. EVALUATION :

Refer to Figure 1-11 for review questions 1 through 3.

(a) (b)

(b) (d)
Figure 1-11
1. Which schematic symbol represents a triac?
a. Figure 1-11 (a)
b. Figure 1-11 (b)
c. Figure 1-11 (c)
d. Figure 1-11 (d)
2. Which schematic symbol represents an SCR?
a. Figure 1-11 (a)
b. Figure 1-11 (b)
c. Figure 1-11 (c)
d. Figure 1-11 (d)
3. Which schematic symbol represents a UJT?
a. Figure 1-11 (a)
b. Figure 1-11 (b)
c. Figure 1-11 (c)

ECE 508/ECE 523 JUNE 2009 14

 d. Figure 1-11 (d)
4. Parameters unique to a particular thyristor can be found on the manufacturer's
a. specification sheet.
b. schematic.
c. label.
d. price list.
5. The three terminals of an SCR are
a. E, B, C.
b. A. K.
c. A. K, G.
d. MT1, MT2, G.
6. Which circuit block does not use a dc voltage source?
a. SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR) circuit block
b. SCR DC GATE HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE circuit block
c. SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE/MOTOR circuit block
d. TRIAC AC POWER CONTROL circuit block
7. On the SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE/MOTOR circuit block,
at what point could you connect a dc voltage source with a two-post connector?
a. the SCR gate (G)
b. the SCR anode (A)
c. the full-wave bridge rectifier (CR3)
d. None of the above.
8. Which thyristor circuit block on the THYRISTOR AND POWER CONTROL CIRCUITS
circuit board can be modified with two-post connectors?
a. All of the circuits can be modified.
b. Only the SCR circuits can be modified.
c. Only the circuits using a dc voltage source can be modified.
d. None; the circuits are all harpwired.
9. You can modify the SCR AC GATE AND UJT HALF-WAVE AND FULL-WAVE/MOTOR
circuit block by using two-post connectors to replace CR2 with the
a. SCA.
b. UJT.
c. CR 1.
d. motor.
10. In the TRIAC AC POWER CONTROL circuit block, the triac MT2 terminal can be
connected to
a. a positive dc voltage.
b. a negative dc voltage.
c. an ac voltage.
d. All of the above

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VI. CONCLUSION:

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