Department of Electrical Engineering

Faculty of Engineering & Applied Sciences

Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Program: B.Sc. Electrical Engineering Semester: VI

Subject EE-473 Power Electronics Date:

Experiment 1: Study of Internal Structure and the V-I Characteristics of SCR.

OBJECTIVES:

(i) To display the characteristics of a thyristor using an oscilloscope.

(ii) To investigate the connection between UGT (gate triggering voltage) and UBO
(Forward breakdown voltage).

Name: Muhammad Ehsan Ullah SAP ID: 3050

Performance Lab Report
Description Total Marks Description Total Marks
Marks Obtained Marks Obtained
Ability to 5 Organization/Structure 5
Conduct
Experiment
Implementation 5 Data Presentation 5
and Results
Total Marks obtained

Remarks (if any): ………………………………….

Name & Signature of faculty: …………………………………

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Tittle:
Study of Internal Structure and the V-I Characteristics of SCR.

Objectives:
➢ To display the characteristics of a thyristor using an oscilloscope.
➢ To investigate the connection between VGT (gate triggering voltage) and VBO (Forward
breakdown voltage).

Introduction:
SCR:
The Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) is the most important and mostly used member of
the thyristor family. SCR can be used for different applications like rectification, regulation of
power and inversion, etc. Like a diode, SCR is a unidirectional device that allows the current in
one direction and opposes in another direction.
SCR is a three terminal device: anode, cathode and gate as shown in figure. SCR has built in feature
to turn ON or OFF and its switching is controlled by biasing conditions and gate input terminal.
This results in varying the average power delivered at the load, by varying the ON periods of the
SCR. It can handle several thousands of voltages and currents. SCR symbol and its terminals are
shown in figure.

Working or Modes of Operation of SCR

Depending on the biasing given to the SCR, the operation of SCR is divided into three modes.
They are
➢ Forward blocking Mode
➢ Forward Conduction Mode and
➢ Reverse Blocking Mode

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Advantages of Silicon Controlled Rectifier
➢ As compared with electromechanical or mechanical switch, SCR has no moving parts.
Hence, with a high efficiency it can deliver noiseless operation.
➢ The switching speed is very high as it can perform 1 nano operations per second.
➢ These can be operated at high voltage and current ratings with a small gate current.
➢ More suitable for AC operations because at every zero position of the AC cycle the SCR
will automatically switch OFF.
➢ Small in size, hence easy to mount and trouble free service.

Circuit Diagram:

Figure 1
Procedure:
➢ Set the experiment circuit as shown in diagram
➢ The circuit above can be realized by arranging the experiment panel as shown in figure be
➢ Set the oscilloscope on X/Y mode operation, channel 2 inverted. Adjust channel 1 to 5V/div
and channel 2 to 0.5V/div.
➢ Switch "ON" the 12V main supply. Trigger the thyristor by adjusting R2. The lamp will light
"ON".
➢ Observe the output waveform shown by the oscilloscope. The X-axis represents the anode-to-
cathode voltage VAK, and the Y-axis represents the current lT flowing through the thyristor
R3 = 10ohm is used to convert the sensitivity of channel 2 from V/div to mA/div.
➢ Vary VAK for different values including the smallest and the largest VAK value possible,
when the thyristor is triggered. Each value is set by varying the gate trigger voltages VGT
using R2. Read value is VAK at the oscilloscope! By using multi-meter, measure VGT for
each value of VAK!
➢ Sketch the waveform shown by the oscilloscope for each VAK value in the diagrams below.

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Output Waveform:

Tabular Data:

Sr. No. Var Resistor 𝑽𝑮𝑻 𝑽𝑨𝑲

1 100Ω 1.41V 5.61V
2 1k 2.44V 5.71V
3 5k 2.75V 5.88V
4 18k 0.86V 0.44V
5 19.5k 0.71V 0.31V
6 20k 0.78V 0.39V

Graphical presentation
Var Resistor / V_GT
Chart Title
25000
19500 20000
20000 18000

15000

10000
R

5000
5000 1000
0 100
5.61 5.71 5.88 0.44 0.31 0.39
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-5000
VGT

Series1 Series2

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 Var Resistor / V_AK
Chart Title
25000

20000

15000

10000
R

5000

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-5000
VAK

Series1 Series2

Lab Task:

To investigate the connection between VGT (gate triggering voltage) and VBO (Reverse
breakdown voltage).

Figure 2

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Output Waveform:

VI Characteristic curve of SCR:

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Results and Discussions:
The supply voltage is generally much less than breakover voltage. The SCR is turned on by passing
appropriate amount of gate current ( a few mA) and not by breakover voltage. When SCR is
operated from a.c. supply, the peak reverse voltage which comes during negative half-cycle should
not exceed the reverse breakdown voltage. When SCR is to be turned OFF from the ON state,
anode current should be reduced to holding current. If gate current is increased above the required
value, the SCR will close at much reduced supply voltage.
When anode is positive w.r.t. cathode, the curve between V and I is called the forward
characteristics. If the supply voltage is increased from zero, a point reached (point A) when
the SCR starts conducting. Under this condition, the voltage across SCR suddenly drops as shown
by dotted curve AB and most of supply voltage appears across the load resistance RL . If proper
gate current is made to flow, SCR can close at much smaller supply voltage
Conclusion:
The characteristics of an SCR using an oscilloscope is examined in today’s lab. The connection
between VGT (gate triggering voltage) and VAK (Forward breakdown voltage) was also
examined in today’s lab.

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