Waveforms

Notebook #8- Revised

Laura Ramirez
December 7, 2016
RTE 141
Professor Yost

Single Phase Power: permits the potential difference to drop to zero with every change in the
direction of current flow.
-Rectification: The process by which alternating current is changed to pulsating direct current.
-Diode: a rectifying semiconductor made by sandwiching p-type crystal with an n-type to form a
p-n junction.
-Full wave rectification uses four diodes for each phase of power.
-Two diodes block the negative pulse, two redirect.

Multiphase power: combination of several waveforms of current slightly out of step with one
another.
-When full-wave rectification is applied, the net voltage produces a voltage ripple.
- Three phase current produces a voltage ripple of 3 pulses per half cycle, which is a6 pulses per
Hz and 360 pulses per second.
Whenever any of the phases is at zero, the other two phases are equally opposite values so that
the sum of the three currents is always zero.
- Ripple: 3 phase can be 6 pulse or 12 pulse.
- 6 pulse has 13% ripple.
-12 pulse has 3.5 ripple.

Three phase 6-pulse:

Three phase 12-pulse:

High frequency Generators:

Frequency: the number of waves that passes a particular point in a given time frame.
-High frequency generators create a pulse of DC current.
-Reduces ripple to <1%.
- High-frequency generators use AC and DC power converts to change the incoming- line
voltage frequency from 60 Hz to 6,000 Hz range.
-Because of the high- frequency current, transformers for these units are significantly smaller.