DC HARMONICS ANALYSIS

We understand this by an example of harmonics in output of rectifier. Any non-sinusoidal waveform can
be represented by Fourier series. Here desirable output of a rectifier is DC as it converts AC to DC.

V
o a
o

+ + +…
=

Dc component Second
Rectifier (Desirable) Fundamental Harmonic
output component

∞
𝑉𝑜(𝑡) = 𝑎0 + ∑∞
𝑛=1(𝑎𝑜 cos 𝑛𝜔𝑡 + 𝑏𝑜 sin 𝑛𝜔𝑡) ; 𝑉𝑜(𝑡) = 𝑎0 + ∑ 𝐶𝑛 sin (nωt + 𝑛 )
𝑛=1

𝑎
𝐶𝑛 = √𝑎𝑛 𝟐 + 𝑏𝑛 𝟐 ;  = tan−𝟏 𝑛
𝑏𝑛

1
𝑉𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √𝑎0 𝟐 + 2 (𝐶1 𝟐 + 𝐶2 𝟐 + 𝐶3 𝟐 + . . ) ;

√𝑉𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝟐 − 𝑎𝑜 𝟐 = √1 (𝐶1 𝟐 + 𝐶2 𝟐 + 𝐶3 𝟐 + . . )𝟐 ;
𝟐

√𝑉𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝟐 − 𝑎𝑜 𝟐 =Voh = Harmonic voltage;

𝑉𝑜ℎ 𝑉𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 2
𝑎𝑜
= √( 𝑎𝑜
) −1

Summary:
𝑉𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠
1. Form factor (FF) = RMS/DC = 𝑎𝑜
𝑉𝑜ℎ
2. Voltage Ripple factor (VRF) =
𝑎𝑜
3. If harmonics are absent then:
a. Vorms = ao
b. Voh = 0
c. VRF = 0
d. FF = 1
4. If harmonics are present then:
a. Vorms>ao
b. Voh> 0
c. VRF > 0
d. FF >1