Electrical Engineering Program EEL 3117L Electrical Circuits Lab Fall 2013 Instructor: Dr.

. Kopp Lab #8: Diode Power-Rectifier Circuits Lab performed on November 4, 2013 Lab report due on November 18, 2013 Completed by: Dawn Owens (N00152181) Vanessa Guy (N0833323)

Abstract The objective of this lab was to understand how the DC power used in most electronic devices is actually AC power converted to DC power through the use of a step-down transformer, rectifier, filter, and a regulator. The step-down transformer decreases the AC line voltage to the value of DC voltage needed during application. Feeding the output of the transformer into a rectifier circuit alters the signal from a sinusoid to positive half cycles. To smooth out the output of the rectifier, a filter is used, which facilitates the generation of a constant DC voltage level. The lab required the conversion of an AC line voltage supplied by a transformer into a DC signal utilizing diode rectifier circuits. The conversion is investigated through the use of four different configurations of diode rectifier circuits, namely: a Half-wave rectifier, a Full-wave rectifier consisting of two diodes, a Full-wave bridge rectifier, and a Regulated Full-wave bridge rectifier. During pre-lab requisite values for the capacitors, which acted as filters to smooth the output, were calculated, and used during lab to construct the various configurations. Students became familiar with utilizing transformers to supply input voltage, AC to DC conversion, smoothing capacitors and voltage regulation. 1. Equipment Software Qty 1 Component NI MultiSim 12.0 Table 1. Software used to execute Lab 8. Value n/a

Hardware Qty 1 4 Component Dell Computer with Windows 7 Operating System Resistors Value 2.2k 5% 1.0k 5% - (2) 330 5% 1N4734A 1N4001 22 F 10 F - (3) 1 F .47 F 100 F

1 4 7

Zener Diode Diode Capacitor

8 pc. 1 pair 1 1 1 1 2

Breadboard Jumper Wire Wire Cutters Tektronix TDS 2014 4 Channel Digital Storage Oscilloscope Global Specialties Design and Prototyping PB-505 BNC to BNC AC plug ground isolation adapter BNC to Probe Table 2. Hardware used to execute Lab 8.

2. Procedure Using the requisite equipment listed in Table 2, the following exercises were executed: 2.1 Experiment 1: Half- Wave Rectifier Circuit The transformer located on the Global Specialties Design and Prototyping PB-505, a 1N4001 Diode, and a 2.2k resistor were connected as shown in the Figure 1 to construct a half-wave rectifier circuit.

Figure 1. Half-Wave Rectifier Circuit. The peak-to-peak voltage across the transformer secondary, and the peak voltage across the output are measured and recorded. The two values are then used to calculate the diode turn-on voltage.
3

Using Channel 1 and Channel 2 of the oscilloscope the transformer secondary voltage and output voltage images are captured. Subsequently, a filtering capacitor is inserted in parallel with the resistor, and the ripple voltage is measured. 2.2 Experiment 2: Full-Wave Rectifier Circuit The transformer located on the Global Specialties Design and Prototyping PB-505, two 1N4001 Diodes, and a 2.2k resistor were connected as shown in the Figure 2 to construct a full-wave rectifier circuit.

Figure 2. Experiment 2: Full-Wave Rectifier Circuit. The peak-to-peak voltage across the transformer secondary, and the peak voltage across the output are measured and recorded. The diode turn on voltage is calculated based on the two measured values. Using Channel 1 and Channel 2 of the oscilloscope the transformer secondary voltage and output voltage images are captured. Subsequently, a filtering capacitor is inserted in parallel with the resistor, and the ripple voltage is measured. 2.3 Experiment 3: Full- Wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit The transformer located on the Global Specialties Design and Prototyping PB-505 and four 1N4001 Diodes were connected as shown in the Figure 3 to construct a full-wave bridge rectifier circuit.

Figure 3. Experiment 3: Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit. Using the oscilloscope the peak voltage across the output is measured and recorded. A capacitor valued at 1F and a 2k load resistor are connected to the rectifier as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Experiment 3: Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit with RC Filter/Load. The ripple voltage is measured for the following capacitor values: 1 F, 10 F, and 100 F. 2.4 Experiment 4: Regulated Full- Wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit The transformer located on the Global Specialties Design and Prototyping PB-505, four 1N4001 Diodes, a 100 F capacitor, a 1N4734A, a 270 resistor, and a 2k load resistor were connected as shown in the Figure 5 to construct a regulated full-wave bridge rectifier circuit.

Figure 5. Experiment 4: Regulated Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit. Measured and recorded the average voltage across the output. Subsequently, the 2k load resistor is replaced with a 330 resistor and the average voltage across the output is measured and recorded. 3. Results 3.1 Experiment 1: Half-Wave Rectifier Circuit Measurement Measured Value Resistor (2.2k) 2.166k Filter Components 32.47 F Peak to Peak Voltage across transformer secondary 36.2 Vp-p Peak Voltage across output 17.4 Vp Turn-on voltage of 1N4001 Diode 700 mV Table 3. Measured Values from Experiment 1: Half Wave Rectifier

Figure 6. Experiment 1: Transformer Secondary Voltage and Output Voltage. Pre-lab simulation resulted in Vripple of 3.216 V, and lab mea he turn-on voltage for a diode can be determined from a small signal I-V characteristic curve. The turn-on voltage is measured at the point on the graph where current flow is initiated on the Y-axis, because no current flows until a certain voltage is reached allowing the diode to conduct.

The measured turn on voltage for the 1N4001 Diode was determined from the graph to be 730 mV as shown in Figure 5, which is consistent with the approximated standard value of 0.7 Volts.

Figure 5. 1N4001 Diode I-V Characteristic Curve

The measured turn on voltage for the LED was determined to be 1.96V as shown in Figure 6, which is consistent with the simulated value determined during the pre-lab.
8

Figure 6. LED I-V Characteristic Curve 3.2 Experiment 2: LED Display Circuit Resistor values were determined by applying Constant Voltage Model Analysis to Figure 3. Given an input voltage of 5 Volts, and a 5 mA current through each LED, Equation 2 was used to calculate each resistor value as shown in Equation 3, 4, 5, and 6.

R1

(5 1.8V ) 640 0.005mA

(3)

R2

R3

(5 2.5V ) 500 0.005mA

(4)

(5)

R4

(3.6 2.5V ) 220 0.005 mA

(6)

In lieu of actual resistors, 1k potientiometers were used and calibrated to the calculated resistor value. Successively increasing the input voltage at a frequency of 1kHz each LED illuminated, Table 3 depicts the turn on voltage necessary for each LED to emit light in the Simple Volume Display Circuit. Voltage Turn On (Peak to Voltage Peak Value) DS1 4.72 V 2.36 V DS2 4.72 V 2.36 V DS3 8.00 V 4.00 V DS4 8.00 V 4.00 V Table 3. Turn-on Voltages for LEDs in Simple Volume Display Circuit Lowering the frequency of the input voltage between the range of 1 Hz and 10 Hz, caused all of the LED lights to blink consistently. The latter end of the frequency range caused the pace of the blinking to increase. The audio input frequency range associated with music is approximately 20 Hz 20 kHz. Consequently, if LEDs were to blink at this frequency visibility would be impossible due to the rate of the blinking, and the ability of the human eye to monitor the point at which the LED reaches zero volts. 3.3 Experiment 3: Zener Diode I-V Characteristics using Oscilloscope X-Y Mode Zener Diode Turn-On Voltage Reverse Breakdown Voltage 0.7 Volts 5.40 Volts 1N4734A 0.7 Volts 8.20 Volts 1N4738A Table 4. Turn On and Reverse Breakdown Voltages for Zener Diodes Figures 7 and 8 shown below, depict the graphical representation of the I-V characteristics of the 1N4734A and 1N4738A Zener diode, respectively. LED

10

Figure 7. 1N4734A Zener Diode I-V Characteristic Curve

11

Figure 8. 1N4738A Zener Diode I-V Characteristic Curve 4. Questions

1. Explain the differences between a half-wave and full-wave rectifier. A half-wave rectifier generally utilizes one diode blocking half of the sinusoidal wave cycle, and allowing the other through resulting in output of either only the positive half-cycle or the negative half-cycle depending upon the direction of the diode. Whereas a full-wave rectifier utilizes both halves of the sinusoidal waveform by inverting one half and resulting in output of either two positive or two negative waveforms. 2. How does a full-wave bridge rectifier work? Be sure to discuss when current flows in each of the four diodes. A full wave bridge rectifier utilizes four diodes in a bridge topology, as shown in Figure 3,
12

which are labeled D1 to D4. The diodes are arranged in such a manner that only two diodes conduct current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply diodes D2 and D3 conduct in series while D1 and D4 are reverse biased, therefore switched OFF, and the current flows through the load. During the negative half cycle of the supply D1 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D2 and D3 are in reversed biased mode so now they are switched OFF. 3. What are the advantages of a full-wave bridge rectifier over a full-wave rectifier? The main advantage of a full-wave bridge rectifier over a full-wave rectifier is the elimination of the special center tapped transformer, which reduces the rectifiers size and cost. 4. What are the disadvantages of a full-wave bridge rectifier over a full-wave rectifier? To account for doubling number of diodes used in a full-wave bridge rectifier, the voltage must be reduced by double the VD,ON. While with the full-wave rectifier the voltage is reduced by VD,ON once. 5. What is the purpose of the 270 resistor in Figure 5? The 270 resistor acts in conjunction with the Zener diode that exhibits a small signal resistance in the range of 1 to 10 , which assist is providing a relatively constant output despite input variations. 6. Explain what the Zener diode doing in the circuit in Figure 5? The Zener diode regulates the output voltage by acting as a constant voltage drop in conjunction with the 270 , creating a voltage divider that attenuates the effect of Vin on Vout.

5. Conclusion This lab provided an introduction to diodes, and their respective current-voltage characteristics. This brief introduction created an environment to become familiar with ability to verify circuit measurements for circuits containing diodes, and circumventing machines containing established grounds to avoid short circuiting the circuit. References [ 1 ] B. Kopp, Lab 7 Diodes, Blackboard, September 2013. [2] B. Razavi, Fundamental of Microelectronics, Wiley, 2014.

13