POWER COMPUTATIONS FOR NONSINUSOIDAL

PERIODIC WAVEFORMS
Fourier Series for a periodic function f(t)

An alternative expression for a Fourier series

The rms value of f(t) can be computed from the Fourier series:

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 1

 Average Power
Periodic voltage and current waveforms in Fourier series

Average power is The average of the products

of the dc terms is V0 I0

The average of voltage and current products at the same frequency is

described by Eq. (2-49), and the average of voltage and current products of
different frequencies is zero.
Average power for non-sinusoidal periodic voltage and current
waveforms is

or

Note that total average power is the sum of the powers at the frequencies in the
Fourier series.
Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 2
 Non-sinusoidal Source and Linear Load

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 3

 EXAMPLE 2-9 Non-sinusoidal Source and Linear Load
A non-sinusoidal periodic voltage has a Fourier series of
v(t)=10+20cos(2π60t-25o) + 30 cos(4π60t+20o) V. This voltage is
connected to a load that is a 5Ω resistor and a 15-mH inductor connected in
series as in Fig. 2-11. Determine the power absorbed by the load.

v(t)=10+20cos(2π60t-25o) + 30 cos(4π60t+20o) V

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 4

 Power at each frequency in the Fourier series

Power absorbed by the load can also be computed from I2rms R in this circuit
because the average power in the inductor is zero.

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 5

 Sinusoidal Source and Nonlinear Load
If a sinusoidal voltage source is applied to a nonlinear load, the
current waveform will not be sinusoidal but can be represented as a
Fourier series. If voltage is the sinusoid
and current is represented
by the Fourier series
Generally average power absorbed by the load (or supplied by the
source) is
(From Eq 2-59)

Note that the only nonzero power term is at the frequency of the
applied voltage.
Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 6
 The power factor of the load is
(Avg/Apparent)

Note also that for a sinusoidal voltage and a sinusoidal current,

pf=cos(θ1-φ1), which is the power factor term commonly used in linear
circuits and is called the displacement power factor.
The ratio of the rms value of the fundamental frequency to the total rms
value, I1,rms/Irms in Eq. (2-63), is the distortion factor (DF).

The distortion factor represents the reduction in power

factor due to the non-sinusoidal property of the current.

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 7

 Total harmonic distortion (THD) is another term used to quantify the
non-sinusoidal property of a waveform.
THD is the ratio of the rms value of all the non-
fundamental frequency terms to the rms value of
the fundamental frequency term.

THD is equivalently
expressed as (2-68)

Total harmonic distortion is often applied in situations where

the dc term is zero, in which case THD may be expressed as

Putting this (2-65) into (2-68)

This is another way to express

the distortion factor

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 8

 Reactive power for a sinusoidal voltage and a non-sinusoidal
current can be expressed as in Eq. (2-50).
The only nonzero term for reactive
power is at the voltage frequency:
With P and Q defined for the non-sinusoidal case, apparent power S
must include a term to account for the current at frequencies which
are different from the voltage frequency.
The term distortion volt-amps D is
traditionally used in the computation of S,
where

Other terms that are sometimes used for

non-sinusoidal current (or voltages) are
form factor and crest factor.

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 9

Sinusoidal Source and a Nonlinear Load
A sinusoidal voltage source of v(t) = 100 cos(377t) V is applied to a
nonlinear load, resulting in a non-sinusoidal current which is expressed in
Fourier series form as ω = 377

Determine (a) the power absorbed by the load, (b) the power factor of the
load, (c) the distortion factor of the load current, (d) the total harmonic
distortion of the load current.
(a) The power absorbed by the load is determined by computing the power
absorbed at each frequency in the Fourier series [Eq. (2-59)].

(b) The rms voltage is

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 10

The rms current is computed from Eq. (2-64):

The power factor is

Alternatively, power factor can be computed from Eq. (2-63):

(c) The distortion factor is computed from Eq. (2-65) as

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 11

 (d) The total harmonic distortion of the load current is obtained from
Eq. (2-68).

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 12

POWER COMPUTATIONS USING PSPICE
PSpice can be used to simulate power electronics circuits to determine
voltages, currents, and power quantities.
A convenient method is to use the numerical analysis capabilities of the
accompanying graphics postprocessor program
Probe to obtain power quantities directly.
Probe is capable of
• Displaying voltage and current waveforms (v)(t) and i(t)
• Displaying instantaneous power p(t)
• Computing energy absorbed by a device
• Computing average power P
• Computing average voltage and current
• Computing rms voltages and currents
• Determining the Fourier series of a periodic waveform
The examples that follow illustrate the use of PSpice to do power
computations.

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 13

 POWER COMPUTATIONS USING PSPICE

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 14

 POWER COMPUTATIONS USING PSPICE

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 15

 POWER COMPUTATIONS USING PSPICE

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 16

POWER COMPUTATIONS USING PSPICE

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 17

 POWER COMPUTATIONS USING PSPICE

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 18

 POWER COMPUTATIONS USING PSPICE

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 02 19

 14.0
V1 V2 V1+V2+V3 V3
12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 1010111112121313141415151616171718181919202021212222232324242525262627272828292930
-2.0
-4.0
-6.0
-8.0
-10.0
-12.0
-14.0
10.0 V1
V3
8.0 V1+V3
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
-2.0
-4.0
-6.0
-8.0
-10.0
20
 Assignment #02 ---- 15 Oct to 22 Oct 2021
Calculate current through and voltage across each component, and
simulate, with the help of OrCAD, to see wave shapes of voltages,
currents and powers at different points as shown in this example.
Prepare a report, when PER = (20 + xx) ms, where xx are the last
two digits of your registration number.

2Ω

20+xx ms

Power Electronics by Daniel W. Hart Chapter 01 21

 Half-Wave Rectifiers
RESISTIVE LOAD
Creating a DC Component
Using an Electronic Switch

Source

Load

Diode
Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 22
 Note that the units on the horizontal axis are in terms of angle (ωt).

As π to 2π = 0

dc component of the current for the resistive load is

Average power absorbed by the resistor

For circuits that have voltages much larger than the typical diode drop, the
improved diode model may have only second-order effects on the load
voltage and current computations.

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 23

 For the half-wave rectifier of Fig. 3-1a, the source is a sinusoid
of 120 V rms at a frequency of 60 Hz. The load resistor is 5Ω .
Determine
(a) the average load current,
(b) the average power absorbed by the load and
(c) the power factor of the circuit.

Average current is

rms voltage for a half-wave power absorbed by the resistor

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 24

 rms current in the resistor

Power

Power factor

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 25

 RESISTIVE- The forced response for this circuit
INDUCTIVE LOAD is the current that exists after the
natural response has decayed to
zero.
In this case, the forced response is
the steady-state sinusoidal current
that would exist in the circuit if the
diode were not present.
This steady-state current can be
found from phasor analysis,

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 26

 -

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 27

 The first positive
value of t in Eq. (3-
12) that results in zero
current is called the
extinction angle β.

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 28

 I(L1)

V(L1)

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 29

 I(L1)

V(D1)

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 30

 I(L1)

V(V1)

V(L1)

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 31

 τ is the time constant L/R

A is a constant that is determined from the initial condition

It is often convenient to write

the function in terms of the
angle ωt rather than time.
multiplied and divide by ω
(3-12)

Equation (3-12) is valid for positive currents only because of the diode in the
circuit, so current is zero when the function in Eq. (3-12) is negative.
Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 32
 The first positive value of t in Eq. (3-12) that results in zero
current is called the extinction angle β.
(3-12)
Substituting ωt = β in Eq. (3-12),

(3-15)

The average power absorbed by the load is I2rms R,

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 33

 Average current is

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 34

 EXAMPLE 3-2 Half-Wave Rectifier with RL Load
For the half-wave rectifier, R=100 Ω, L=0.1 H, ω = 377 rad/s, and
Vm=100 V. Determine
(a) an expression for the current in this circuit,
(b) the average current,
(c) the rms current,
(d) the power absorbed by the RL load, and
(e) the power factor.

ωτ =ω L/R = 0.377 rad

(a) (3-15)
Beta is found from Eq. (3-14)
β is found to be 3.50 rad, or 201o

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 35

 (b) Average current is determined from Eq. (3-17).

(A numerical integration program is recommended.)

(c) The rms current is found from Eq. (3-16) to be

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 36

 (d) The power absorbed by the resistor is

The average power absorbed by the inductor is zero. Also P can be

computed from the definition of average power:

(e) The power factor is computed from the definition pf =P/S,

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 37

 3.4 PSPICE SIMULATION
EXAMPLE 3-3

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 38

 The average current is found by entering AVG(I(R1)), resulting in
Io=304 mA

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 39

 EXAMPLE 3-4
Design a circuit to produce an average current of 2.0 A in a 10 Ω
resistance. The source is 120 V rms at 60 Hz.
■ Solution
A half-wave rectifier is one circuit that can be used for this
application.
If a simple half-wave rectifier with the 10-Ω resistance were used,
the average current would be (120 √2π)/8 = 6.5 A.
Some means must be found to reduce the average current to the
specified 2 A.
A series resistance could be added to the load, but resistances absorb
power.
An added series inductance will reduce the current without adding
losses, so an inductor is chosen.

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 40

Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 41
Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 42
Power Electronics by D. W. Hart Chapter 03 43