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EE 462: Laboratory # 4
DC Power Supply Circuits Using Diodes
by
Dr. A.V. Radun
modified by
Dr. K.D. Donohue (10/08/04)
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506
Laboratory # 4 Pre-lab due at lab sessions October 12, 13, 14.
Lab due at lab sessions October 19, 20, and 21.
I.



Instructional Objectives
Design and construct circuits that transform sinusoidal (AC) voltages into constant (DC)
voltages.
Design and construct a voltage regulator based on the characteristics of the Zener diode.
Study the performance of simple rectifier and regulator circuits.
See Horenstein 4.3 and 4.4
II.
Rectification
Electric power transmits best over long distances at high voltages. Since P = I V, a larger voltage
V implies a smaller current I for the same transmitted power. Smaller currents allow for the use
of smaller wires with less loss. The high voltages used for power transmission, however, must
be reduced to be compatible with the needs of most consumer and industrial electric equipment.
This is done with transformers that only operate with AC (DC does not pass through a
transformer). Since most electronic circuits require DC (constant) voltages, normal AC power
voltage must be transformed into a DC (constant) voltage.
The terminology "DC" is somewhat ambiguous. DC can mean the voltage or current always has
the same polarity but changes with time (pulsating DC), or it can mean a constant value. In this
lab assignment DC will refer to a constant voltage or current. If the voltage or current always
have the same polarity but changes with time, it will be referred to as having both a DC and an
AC component. The process of changing an AC signal that has both plus and minus values, to a
signal with only plus values is called rectification, and the circuits that perform this operation are
called rectifier circuits. The rectifier circuit operates in a way similar to the clipping circuits used
in a previous lab. Figure 1 a) shows a half wave rectifier and Fig. 1 b) shows a full wave
rectifier.
+
Vs
+
Vs
Vout
RL
Vout
RL
-
-
(b)
(a)
Fig. 1 a) Half wave rectifier. b) Full wave rectifier.
Although the output of a rectifier is always positive, (or always negative) it is generally not
constant, often going from zero to a peak value. Thus, the output of the rectifier must be filtered
to obtain a DC (constant) output. Since DC has a frequency of 0 Hz, a low-pass filter can be
applied to attenuate the higher frequency signal components. The simplest low pass filter is a
capacitor. Figure 2 shows examples of passing rectified signals through a low-pass filter. This
low-pass filtering is sometimes called smoothing. No filter can totally eliminate unwanted
frequencies so the actual output of the filter will always have some AC content, often called
ripple (ripple voltage or ripple current). A rectifier and its filter is a simple example of a DC
power supply.
+
Vs
+
Vs
RL
Vout
RL
(a)
Vout
-
-
(b)
Fig. 2 a) Half wave rectifier with capacitor filter. b) Full wave rectifier with
capacitor filter.
One performance measure of a DC power supply is the percent output ripple computed from the
ratio of the (peak-to-peak) output voltage to the average (DC) output voltage. Output ripple can
be expressed as r in the equation below:
r
Vop  p
Vo
(1)
where Vop  p is the peak-to-peak output voltage and Vo is the mean of the output voltage,
which is equivalent to the DC component. Multiply r by 100 for percent output ripple. A
typical output signal is illustrated in Fig. 3. The best performance occurs when the percent ripple
is zero (a battery produces ideal DC). This lab examines and compares the two rectifier schemes
in Fig. 2.
Vo
Vop  p
Average DC
Peak to
peak ripple
Vo
t
Fig. 3 Definition of percent ripple
III.
Regulation
A DC power supply provides constant DC voltage to some load, which will be modeled as a
resistor. This constant value should be independent of the load and fluctuations of input voltage.
When a load is applied to the output of a simple power supply (as in Figs. 1 and 2), the output
voltage decreases due to increased resistive voltage drops, diode voltage drops, and increased
voltage ripple. A voltage regulator circuit is used to prevent this change in output voltage. A
Zener diode can be used to make a voltage regulator circuit (see Fig 4) by taking advantages of
the Zener diode’s reverse breakdown characteristic. Recall that once a Zener diode breaks down,
its voltage remains essentially constant independent of its reverse current. The regulator's
resistor, Rreg, limits the current through the Zener to reduce the power dissipated in the Zener.
This is done, however, at the price of limiting the maximum load current that can be supplied
with a regulated output voltage.
+
Rreg
Vin
-
+
Vout
-
Fig. 4 Zener voltage regulator
An important characteristic of a voltage regulator is its percent regulation defined as the
difference between the average no-load voltage (implies zero load current and thus infinite load
resistance) and the average full-load voltage (the load draws its maximum current and has its
minimum resistance) divided by the average full-load voltage. Regulation can be expressed in
the equation below:
Regulation 
VoNL  VoFL
VoFL
(2)
where VoNL is the average output no-load voltage and VoFL is the average output full-load
voltage. Percent regulation is obtained by multiplying Regulation in Eq. 2 by 100. The best
regulation performance is achieved with a 0 % regulation.
A DC power supply is made up of a combination of a rectifier, a filter, and a voltage regulator
circuits. A simple power supply using this combination is shown in Fig. 5.
+
+
Vs
Vin
-
-
AC source
Rectifier
Filter
Rreg
+
Vout
RL
Regulator
Load
DC Power Supply
Fig. 5 Basic power supply consisting of a rectifier, filter and
regulator.
IV.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Pre-Lab
For the half-wave and full-wave rectifiers in Fig. 1, determine the output voltage and the
current through a 5.1k load with a sinusoidal, 8V rms, 60Hz input voltage. Use suitable
approximations.
Estimate the oscilloscope horizontal setting (in ms / div) and the oscilloscope vertical setting
(in volts / div) to observe the output voltage in Pre-lab Problem 1. Often the major divisions
on an oscilloscope are 1 cm wide so volts / cm is sometime used instead of volts / div.
For the full-wave rectifier case, sketch a schematic showing how you will place your probes
to measure the output voltage and briefly describe how you will measure this voltage.
Grounding is the issue here, so clearly indicate where the grounds of probes are placed and
what must be done to view the waveform of interest.
For the filtered half-wave and full-wave rectifiers in Fig. 2 estimate the capacitor current, the
output voltage, and the output current through a 5.1k load with a sinusoidal, 8Vrms, 60 Hz
input voltage. Select a capacitor value so that the output ripple voltage is 1V P-P for the
half-wave rectifier with a 5.1k load. Use the same value of C for the full-wave rectifier.
What is the full wave rectifier’s ripple voltage? Use suitable approximations. What is the
ripple voltage with no load ( RL   )?
If the calculated value of capacitance is not available in the lab, should one with a larger or
smaller value be used? Explain your answer.
You wish to measure the current through the capacitor by placing a resistor in series with it.
You plan to measure the voltage across the resistor in order to measure the current through
the capacitor. Choose a resistor value such that the ripple voltage added by the resistor is
0.25V P-P for the half wave circuit. Use suitable approximations.
For the half wave rectifier case, sketch a schematic showing the current sense resistor in
series with the capacitor and how you would place your probes to simultaneously measure
the capacitor voltage and the capacitor current. Grounding is the issue here, so clearly
indicate where the grounds of probes are placed and what must be done to view the
waveform of interest.
8. Design a Zener voltage regulator to regulate the output of the filtered rectifier circuit to 5.1V
(use a 5.1V Zener - IN4773). Design the regulator so it can handle the maximum possible
load (smallest possible RL) while keeping the maximum Zener power at no load to 25mW.
With this constraint, determine the maximum load (in Amps) that could be supplied while
maintaining output voltage regulation.
9. How does the addition of the regulator change the ripple voltage across the circuit capacitor?
10. Simulate your completed power supply design using SPICE for the half wave rectifier case to
verify it meets its requirements.
V.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Lab procedure
Construct the half wave rectifier circuit in Fig. 1a. Set the input voltage to 8V rms and 60Hz.
Record the output waveform. (Discussion: How does your measured results compare to
your pre-lab calculations?) Try a square wave with the same peak voltage and comment on
your results.
Add a filter capacitor that is close to your pre-lab calculated value. You will need a polar
capacitor to get the value you need so make sure you get the polarity correct. Small value
capacitors tend to be non-polar while large value capacitors tend to be polar. Record the
output voltage waveform. (Discussion: How does this result compare to your pre-lab
calculations?)
Measure the percent ripple of this circuit for no-load and for a full-load equal to 5.1k.
Add the voltage regulator of Fig. 4 to your circuit. Use the value of Rreg you calculated in
your pre-lab. Record the output voltage.
Measure the percent ripple of this circuit for no-load and for a full-load equal to 5.1k.
Measure the percent regulation of this circuit for a full-load of 5.1k
Construct the full wave rectifier in Fig. 1b. Repeat tasks 1-6 above. Be wary of ground.
When repeating Procedure 1, try a square wave with the same peak voltage (Discussion:
comment on your results.)
Measure the percent regulation of the left most variable DC output channel of your lab power
supply at an output voltage of 5.1V and with a 5.1k resistive full-load. Record your results.
(Discussion: How does the regulation of your power supply compare to the regulation of
the laboratory power supply? Overall, compare the performances of the 2 power
supplies.)