EEE213 Power Electronics and Electromechanism

Uncontrolled rectifier
(Single-phase)

Dr. Suneel Kommuri

Email: Suneel.Kommuri@xjtlu.edu.cn

Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering

1
Before we start …
• What is “Rectifier”?
– A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating
current (AC), current that periodically reverses direction, to
direct current (DC), current that flows in only one direction.

– Rectifiers may be made of solid state diodes, vacuum

tube diodes, mercury arc valves, and other components.
Semiconductor devices
Most broadly used due to their good performance,
small sizes, inexpensive price, and ease for integration

2
 Classification of rectifiers
• Controllability
– Uncontrolled Uncontrolled turn-ON & OFF (e.g., diode)
– Semicontrolled Controlled turn-ON and uncontrolled turn-OFF (e.g., SCR)
– Controlled Controlled turn-ON & OFF (GTO, BJT, MOSFET, IGBT)

• Input power (source)

Provides larger efficiency, small fluctuations,
– Single phase filtering of unwanted frequency is easier
– Three phase

Input
• Waveform
– Half-wave
Half-wave
– Full-wave

Full-wave
3
 Importance of rectifiers
• The primary application of rectifiers is to derive DC power
from an AC supply.
– Virtually all electronic devices require DC, so rectifiers find uses
inside the power supplies of all electronic equipment;
– Drive Electromechanical apparatus;
– Electrolyte.
• Devices
– Diodes (二极管) – not controllable;
– Thyristors (晶闸管)
• Silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCR): on-controllable
• Gate Turn-off Thyristors (GTO) : on/off-controllable

4
 Outline
1. Diodes
– Diodes and power diodes
– Static & dynamic characteristics
– Types of power diodes

2. Uncontrolled half-wave rectifier

– Basic resistive loading
– Parameters of the rectifier
– RE load
– RL load
– RC load

3. Uncontrolled full-wave rectifier

– Resistive loading
– RL load
– RLE load

5
 1.1 Diodes (Recall EEE109, EEE112, and EEE211)
• A diode is a two-terminal, passive,
non-linear device;
– It is constituted by a P-N
junction;
– The P-type side is the anode,
and the N-type side is the
cathode. Vacuum tube diode Point-contact diode

6
 1.1 Power Diodes
• It has 3 layers instead of 2 layers (P+, N-, and N+)
• Features different from low-power (information electronic) diodes
– Higher voltage / current withstand
– Low leakage current
– Low conduction loss

– Larger size
– Low speed

A K

7
 1.2 Static characteristics (I-V Relation)

• 𝑖𝐷 = current through diode, from anode (P region) to cathode (N region)

• 𝑣𝐷 = bias voltage
– negative for reverse bias
– positive for forward bias
• The Shockley ideal diode equation:

𝑣𝐷
𝑖𝐷 = 𝐼𝑠 𝑒 𝜂∙𝑣𝑇 −1

Reverse saturation current Thermal equivalent voltage

Emission coefficient 𝑣𝑇 = 𝑘𝑇/𝑞
Ranging 1~2
Boltzmann’s constant Electron charge 8
 1.2 Static characteristics (I-V Relation)
Typical
Ideal Piece-wise linear model

Reverse Leakage current Forward conduction drop

(Reverse resistor RR) (Forward resistor RF)
VTH

If the negative 𝑣𝐷 exceeds the

Breakdown VB breakdown voltage VB, the depletion
region breaks down and the diode
Requirement of diodes to have better performance: performs like a conductor, allowing
electrons flow through it without any
– Forward resistor RF resistance.
– Threshold voltage VTH (0.7V for Si, 0.3V for Ge)
– Breakdown voltage VB
– Reverse resistor RR
9
 1.2 I-V Relation
• Forward-biased region: a conductor (ON)
– In forward bias, a diode has a threshold voltage VTH (门槛电压),
at which current flow becomes significant and increases
exponentially: 𝑉𝑇𝐻 = 0.3𝑉 for Ge, 0.7V for Si.

• Reverse-biased region: an insulator (OFF)

– In reverse bias, there is a negligible reverse saturation current Is.

• Breakdown region:
– If reverse bias is increased sufficiently to a breakdown voltage
VB, there is a sudden increase in reverse current, which is called
breakdown.

10
Equivalent Circuit Representation I
• The ideal diode model
– A perfect conductor or short circuited, if forward biased;
– A perfect insulator or open circuited, if reverse biased.

The Ideal Diode iD

Model

vD

11
Equivalent Circuit Representation II
• The Constant-Voltage-Drop Model
– A modified model taken the threshold voltage into consideration
– A perfect conductor or short circuited, if forward bias voltage
exceed the threshold voltage VTH
– A perfect insulator or open circuited, if reverse biased.

The Constant-Voltage- iD
Drop Model

+ vD
VTH
VTH

12
Equivalent Circuit Representation III
• The Piecewise-Linear Model
– A resistive conductor, if forward bias voltage exceeds the
threshold voltage VTH
– A perfect insulator or open circuited, if reverse biased.

The Piecewise-Linear iD
Model
rD = ΔvD/ ΔiD
+ ΔiD
rD
VTH ΔvD vD
VTH

13
 1.3 Junction capacitor (结电容)
• The positive and negative charge in the depletion region is
variable with the changing of external voltage, creating CJ
– Junction capacitor CJ
Charging when it is forward-biased

Discharging when reverse-biased

Cross-section area
of PN junction

• Potential barrier capacitor CB (势垒电容)

Absolute
• Diffusion capacitor CD (扩散电容) permittivity

• Junction capacitor influences the switching characteristics of

diodes, especially the switching frequency.
14
 1.3 Switching (dynamic) characteristics I
• Try to turn-OFF diode − which was originally ON, Ideal
with high forward current 𝑖𝐹 & low voltage drop 𝑈𝐹 .
• Ideally, we want the current change from a steady
conduction to unconduction instantaneously, and
the voltage on the diode also jumps from 0 to the
reverse–bias voltage without any delay. Reverse-bias voltage

• Practically, current in forward-biased junction diode

is due to net effect of majority and minority carriers.
The diode continues to conduct due to minority Practical
carriers that remain stored in the PN-junction, and I F di F
results reverse-recovery time (𝑡𝑟𝑟 ). dt t rr
UF td tf
• Reverse recovery time：trr= td+ tf
• Delay time, td= t1- t0; falling time, tf= t2- t1 tF t0 t1 t2 t
UR
• Soft factor：Sr = tf /td 𝑑𝑖𝐹 di R
• Peak reverse recovery current: 𝑅𝑃 𝐼 = 𝑡𝑑
𝑑𝑡 dt

I RP
U RP
15
 1.3 Switching (dynamic) characteristics II
• Turn-on transient – forward-recovery process:

• Forward voltage drop will firstly

peak at UFP, then gradually reduce
to some value close to steady
state voltage drop.
• Forward recovery time tfr
• If the rate of rise of the forward
current is higher, the UFP is higher.
u
i
iF
• Summary U FP

– Overshot voltage UFP;

uF
– Forward recovery time tfr.
0 tfr t

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 1.4 Types of power diodes
• General purpose diode (rectifier diode):
– Standard recovery (usually have higher voltage & current
withstand
• Fast recovery diode (FRD)
– Reverse recovery time and charge specified. trr is usually less
than 1μs, for many less than 100 ns —— ultra-fast recovery
diode.
• Schottky diode (Schottky barrier diode-SBD)
– Allows higher switching speeds & better system efficiency
– Essentially no recovered overshot voltage, and lower forward
voltage drop.
– Restricted to low voltage (less than 200V)
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2.1 Single phase uncontrolled half-wave rectifier

• A half-wave rectifier is the simplest rectifier.

– It consists of only one diode.
– It is not normally used in industrial applications, but it is
very useful in understanding the principle of rectification.
+ vD -

iD The output voltage and current of

+ + this rectifier are strongly
influenced by the type of the load.
vs R vo
- -

𝑣𝑠 = 𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡 𝑣𝑠 = 𝑣𝐷 + 𝑣𝑜

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 iD
1. Ideal diode + + vD - +
vs R vo
model - -

• First half 𝑣𝑠 > 0: iD

+ + vD - +
vs R vo
- -

• Second half 𝑣𝑠 < 0: iD

+ vD -
+ +
vs R vo
- -

• Voltage on the diode 𝑣𝑑 :

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2. Constant
iD
voltage + + vD - VTH +
-drop v- s R vo
-
model
• First half 𝑣𝑠 > 𝑉𝑇𝐻 :
iD
+ + vD - VTH +
vs R vo
- -

• Second half 𝑣𝑠 < 𝑉𝑇𝐻 :

iD
+ + vD - VTH +
vs R vo
- -

Diode voltage, 𝑣𝐷 = 𝑣𝑠 − 𝑣𝑜 = −𝑉𝑚 − 𝑉𝑇𝐻

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3. Piecewise iD rD
linear v+ s
+ vD - VTH +
vo
R
model - -

• First half 𝑣𝑠 > 𝑉𝑇𝐻 :

iD + vD - rD
+ VTH +
vs vo
- R -

• Second half 𝑣𝑠 < 𝑉𝑇𝐻 :

iD + vD - rD
+ VTH +
vs vo
- R -

• Voltage on the diode 𝑣𝐷 :

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 𝑣𝑜
About output voltage, 𝑣𝑜
• 𝑣𝑜 is a DC signal, always positive (it’s not the flat constant DC we knew!!!).
• Discontinuous, which means discontinuous power / energy.
• A periodic waveform can be described with Fourier series as,

vo = Vo +  (an cos nt + bn sin nt ) 𝑉𝑜 =
𝑎𝑜
→ average value of 𝑣𝑜
2
n =1

T T /2
Vo =  vo (t )dt =
1 1 Vm
T 0 T  Vm sin tdt =
0

Appendix E,
𝑇 𝑇/2 2𝑉𝑚
M. H. Rashid 2 2 𝑛 = 2,4,6. . .
𝑎𝑛 = න 𝑣𝑜 𝑡 cos 𝑛 𝜔𝑡𝑑𝑡 = න 𝑉𝑚 sin 𝜔 𝑡 cos 𝑛 𝜔𝑡𝑑𝑡 = ൞𝜋 1 − 𝑛2
𝑇 𝑇
0 0 0 𝑛 = 1,3,5. . .

𝑇 𝑇/2 𝑉𝑚
Page. 45, 2 2 𝑛=1
𝑏𝑛 = න 𝑣𝑜 𝑡 sin 𝑛 𝜔𝑡𝑑𝑡 = න 𝑉𝑚 sin 𝜔 𝑡 sin 𝑛 𝜔𝑡𝑑𝑡 = ൞ 2
D. W. Hart 𝑇 𝑇
0 0 0 𝑛 = 2,3,4. . .

Vm Vm 2V 2V
 vo = + sin t − m cos 2t − m cos 4t − ...... T = 2 / 
 2 3 15 22
2.2 Evaluation parameters of an example
• Calculate all the parameters for the shown circuit.
+ vD -
vs
iD
+ +
vs R vo
- -
vo

𝑣𝑠 = 𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡

𝑉𝑚 𝑉𝑚 2𝑉𝑚 2𝑉𝑚
𝑣𝑜 = + 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝜔𝑡 − ⋯
𝜋 2 3𝜋 15𝜋

23
 + vD -
2.2 Parameters of rectifiers I iD
+ +
vs R vo
- -

• The average (DC) output voltage

1 𝑇 1 𝑇/2 𝑉𝑚
𝑉0 = න 𝑣0 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑉0 = න 𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡𝑑𝑡 =
𝑇 0 𝑇 0 𝜋
≈ 0.318𝑉𝑚
• The average (DC) output current
1 𝑇 𝑉0 𝑉𝑚 0.318𝑉𝑚
𝐼0 = න 𝑖0 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝐼0 = = ≈
𝑇 0 𝑅 𝜋𝑅 𝑅

• The output DC power

𝑉𝑚2 0.101𝑉𝑚2
𝑃0 = 𝑉0 𝐼0 𝑃0 = 𝑉0 𝐼0 = 2 ≈
𝜋 𝑅 𝑅
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 + vD -
2.2 Parameters of rectifiers II iD
+ +
𝑉𝑚
𝑉𝑆 = vs R vo
2 - -

• The RMS/effective output voltage

1 𝑇 2 1 𝑇/2
𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 = න 𝑣 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 = න (𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡)2 𝑑𝑡 = 0.5𝑉𝑚
𝑇 0 𝑜 𝑇 0
• The RMS output current
𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝑉𝑚 0.5𝑉𝑚
1 𝑇2 𝐼𝑅𝑀𝑆 = = =
𝐼𝑅𝑀𝑆 = න 𝑖 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑅 2𝑅 𝑅
𝑇 0 𝑜
• The output AC power 𝑉𝑚2 0.25𝑉𝑚2
𝑃𝑅𝑀𝑆 = 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝐼𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝑃𝑅𝑀𝑆 = 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝐼𝑅𝑀𝑆 = 2 =
2 𝑅 𝑅
• The input AC power
𝑉𝑚 𝑉𝑚2 0.439𝑉𝑚2
𝑃𝑆 = 𝑉𝑆 𝐼𝑆 𝑃𝑆 = × 𝐼𝑅𝑀𝑆 = =
2 2 2𝑅 𝑅
(𝑉𝑆 is effective value of source) 25
 + vD -
2.2 Parameters of rectifiers III iD
+ +
vs R vo
- -

• Rectification efficiency (figure of merit)

2
𝑃0 𝑉02 /𝑅𝐿 𝑉02 0.318
𝜂= 𝜂= 2 = 2 = ≈ 40.5%
𝑃𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 /𝑅𝐿 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 0.5

• The transformer utilization factor (i.e. power conversion efficiency)

𝑃0 𝑉0 𝐼0 0.101𝑉𝑚2 /𝑅
𝑓𝑇 = 𝑓𝑇 = = = 0.287
𝑃𝑆 𝑉𝑆 𝐼𝑆 0.439𝑉𝑚2 /𝑅

• The effective (RMS) value of the AC component of the output voltage

2
𝑉𝑎𝑐 = 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 − 𝑉02 𝑉𝑎𝑐 = 𝑉𝑚 0.52 − 0.3182 = 0.386𝑉𝑚

26
 + vD -
2.2 Parameters of rectifiers IV iD
+ +
vs R vo
- -
• Form factor (measure of shape of output voltage)
𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 0.5
𝑓𝐹 = 𝑓𝐹 = = = 1.57
𝑉0 𝑉0 0.318
• Ripple factor (measure of the ripple content)
𝑉𝑎𝑐 𝑉𝑎𝑐
𝑓𝑅 = = 𝑓𝐹2 − 1 𝑓𝑅 = = 𝑓𝐹2 − 1 = 1.21
𝑉0 𝑉0
• Crest factor (measure of the peak current rating)
𝐼𝑠(𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘) 𝐼𝑠(𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘) 𝑉𝑚 /𝑅𝐿
𝑓𝑐 = 𝑓𝑐 = = =2
𝐼𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝐼𝑅𝑀𝑆 0.5𝑉𝑚 /𝑅𝐿

27
 + vD -

iD
+ +
vs R vo
- is -

• The total harmonic distortion (THD) of input current

2 2
𝐼𝑠 0.5𝑉𝑚 /𝑅𝐿
𝑇𝐻𝐷 = − 1 × 100% 𝑇𝐻𝐷 = − 1 = 1 = 100%
𝐼𝑠1 0.5𝑉𝑚 / 2𝑅𝐿
– where Is and Is1 are the effective values of the total and fundamental frequency
of the input current is.

• Power factor
𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝑓𝑃 =
𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 Displacement factor (DF)
𝑉𝑠 𝐼𝑠1 𝐼𝑠1 𝐼𝑠1 0.5𝑉𝑚 / 2𝑅𝐿
= 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙 𝑓𝑃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙 = = 0.707
𝑉𝑠 𝐼𝑠 𝐼𝑠 𝐼𝑠 0.5𝑉𝑚 /𝑅𝐿
– The displacement angle ϕ is defined to be the phase difference between the
fundamental components of the input current and voltage. 28
 2.3 With RL load
• The ripple factor of output current can
be reduced by connecting an inductor
in series with the load resistance.

• Current continues to flow for a while

even after the input voltage has gone
negative.
29
 2.4 With RC load
• The problem of poor ripple factor of the output voltage can also be solved by connecting a
capacitor across the load resistance.
• Assuming the capacitor is initially uncharged and the circuit is energized at 𝜔𝑡 = 0, the
diode becomes forward-biased as the source becomes positive.
• With the diode ON, the 𝑣𝑜 is same as the 𝑣𝑠 , and the capacitor charges. The capacitor is
charged to 𝑉𝑚 until the input voltage reaches its positive peak at 𝜔𝑡 = 𝜋/2.
• As 𝑣𝑠 decreases after 𝜔𝑡 = 𝜋/2, the capacitor decreases into the load resistor. The 𝑣𝑜 is a
decaying exponential with time constant RC while diode is OFF.

30
 3.1 Single phase uncontrolled full-wave rectifier

• Bridge rectifier (using 4 diodes)

– The positive half-cycle goes through D1 and D2
– The negative half-cycle goes through D3 and D4
2

+ D1 +
vs R
1 - D2 -

3
- D4 -
vs R
+ D3 +

4 31
 3.1 Single phase uncontrolled full-wave rectifier
2 𝑇/2 2𝑉𝑚
• Average output voltage: 𝑉0 = න 𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡𝑑𝑡 = ≈ 0.637𝑉𝑚
𝑇 0 𝜋

2 𝑇/2
• RMS output voltage: 𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 = න (𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡)2 𝑑𝑡 = 0.707𝑉𝑚
𝑇 0
𝑉02
• Rectification efficiency: 𝜂 = 2 ≈ 81%
𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆
𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆
• Form factor: 𝑓𝐹 =
𝑉0
= 1.11

• Ripple factor: 𝑓𝑅 = 𝑓𝐹2 − 1 = 0.482

2𝑉𝑚 4𝑉𝑚 4𝑉𝑚

• Fourier Series: 𝑣𝑜 = − 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝜔𝑡 − ⋯
𝜋 3𝜋 15𝜋
32
Comparison to half-wave rectifier
Parameters Single Phase Single Phase
Half-wave Full-wave
𝑉0 0.318𝑉𝑚 0.637𝑉𝑚
𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆 0.5𝑉𝑚 0.707𝑉𝑚
𝜂 40.5% 81%
𝑓𝑇 0.287 0.81
𝑓𝐹 1.57 1.11
𝑓𝑅 1.21 0.482
𝑓𝐶 2 1.414
𝑓𝑃 0.707 1
THD 100% 0%
Have you found anything strange in the table?
33
3.2 With RL load
• An inductor can be used to reduce the ripples.
• Larger the inductor, the output voltage is much smoother,
almost flat DC.

34
 3.3 With RLE load
In this circuit, an inductor is used to regulate the output. If the inductor is very small,
the charging current is discontinuous; if the inductor is large enough, the charging
current is continuous, and almost stable → much suitable for charging battery.

35
See you in the next class (March 12th)

Office hours:

Wednesday: 10 to 12 PM (Only this week)

The End
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