John Errington's tutorial on Power Supply Design

Smoothing

We saw that the output from the transformer and rectifier was a DC voltage; but it contains a
large unwanted AC component.

We can reduce this AC component by

Introduction
adding a capacitor, as shown here. The
Transformer effect of this is to increase the average
and rectifier output voltage, and to provide current
when the output voltage drops. This is
Smoothing shown in the graph below.
Ripple Current
Note also the addition of a switch and
Load fuse in the live rail.
regulation
As before all calculated figures apply to
Design a 12V RMS voltage from the transformer.
Example 1
For our calculations we will choose a 10mF capacitor, and assume a load of 6 ohms,
a transformer internal resistance of 0.5 ohms, and a rectifier voltage drop of 2V.
Voltage
Regulation
The yellow line shows the
Voltage
output voltage from the
References
previous unsmoothed supply
Voltage with a 2A load
Regulation
We saw in the previous page
Simple cct
that the rms value of our
Voltage "dc" wave is roughly 10.6V
Regulation and
Lets see how adding the
analysis
capacitor changes this.
Voltage
Regulation The highest output voltage
precision has fallen a bit; but the
circuit lowest output voltage has
gone from 0V to 11.6
Voltage
Regulation This means the RMS value
Conclusion of the output wave is now
much higher.

Current NB: Adding a smoothing

sources capacitor increases the
average output voltage.
Constant
current
Ripple voltage calculation

Feedback The size of our ripple wave shown above is 1.3V pk-pk and its "almost" a sawtooth wave. The
rms value for a sawtooth wave is Vrms = Vpp / 2*sqrt(3) = Vpp / 3.46
High voltages
Here Vpp ripple is 1.3V so Vrms for the ac wave is 1.3 / 3.46V = 0.375V (unsmoothed value was
5.4V)
Rules of
thumb The RMS value of the output waveform is 12.0 V. This is higher than the 10.6V for the
unsmoothed supply.

Capacitor calculation
 The amount of ripple voltage is given (approximately *) by
Vpk-pk ripple= Iload /4 f C (see below) where
f is the frequency before rectification (here 50Hz) and
C is the value of the capacitor.

Example: for our 12V supply we require a ripple voltage of less than 1V peak
- peak, with a 2A load.

Rearranging Vpk-pk ripple = Iload / fC we get C = Iload / 4 * f * Vpk-pk

ripple

C = 2A /4* 50Hz * 1V whence C = 2 / 200 Farads = 10,000 uF

(* in fact the voltage ripple also depends on the internal resistance of the
transformer and rectifier. More resistance gives better smoothing but worse load regulation)

Why Vpk-pk ripple= Iload /4 f C?

In each half cycle the output voltage rises and falls. The discharge time t between each peak and
trough is then roughly half of each half cycle - or one quarter of the period T of the unrectified
wave.
We use Q (charge) = C V = I t , and rearrange to get V = I t / C so V = I T / 4 C.

T = 1 / f , Whence V = I / 4 f C

Voltage calculation

The minimum output voltage is Vout = Vpk - (Vpk-pk ripple)

In the above example Vpk = 14.6V and Vpk-pk ripple= 1.3V so Vout (min) = 13.3 V

Ripple current

The storage and release of charge in the capacitor results in an AC current flowing through it.
This causes heating of the capacitor and can be destructive. On the next page we evaluate the
size of this current.

Worked Example

Design a mains operated power supply to the following specifications: Output voltage
24V ± 20 % at 5A with maximum ripple voltage of 4V peak-peak.

We will need:

a suitable transformer, rated at 5A continuous

a bridge rectifier capable of passing a peak current of 2*5A continuous,
with a reverse voltage rating greater than 3 * Vrms (or 2 * Vpk)
a smoothing capacitor

Calculations:

1: Choose rectifier: our chosen rectifier data sheet says it has a forward voltage drop of 2.7V at
5A

2: work out needed voltage: Vrms * 1.414 must be > 24 + 2.7 + (Vripple = 4V)=30.7; Vrms
= 30.7/1.414 = 22V.

3: choose transformer: The nearest suitable transformer is 24V at 8A - that will be fine.

4: choose capacitor: remember Vpk-pk ripple= Iload /4 f C - or C = Iload /4 f * Vpk-pk ripple

C = 5 / 4* 50 * 4V = 5 / 800 = 0.00625 = 6,250 uF

with a minimum voltage rating of 24 * sqrt(2) = 34V + 20% safety margin = 40V

see next page for ripple current calculation