Class: 2nd Year

Al-Maaqal University
Electronic Circuits 2_Lab
Engineering College
2022 / 2023
Dept. of Control and Computers Engineering

Experiment 3

BRIDGE FULL WAVE RECTIFIER

1- Objectives
To implement and study the working of Bridge Full Wave Rectifier circuit. In addition to that, the
operation of a capacitor filter connected to the output of the rectifier will also be demonstrated.

2- Circuit Components/Equipment's:
a. A step-down transformer.
b. PN Junction Diodes No. 4.
c. Load Resistor 33 KΩ.
d. Capacitors 1.1 𝜇𝐹 & 3.3 𝜇𝐹.
e. Oscilloscope.
f. Multimeters.
g. Electronic Board with connecting wires.

3- Theory
The full wave rectifier converts both halves of each waveform cycle into pulsating DC signal using four
rectification diodes. As seen in previous experiment, the efficiency of a half wave rectifier is equal to 40.6% (i.e.
η max = 40.6%), and a significant amount of power gets wasted as the only one half of each cycle passes through
and the other the cycle gets blocked. So full wave Rectifier will discuss here in order to improve rectification
efficiency. The most important parameters for choosing diodes for these circuits are the maximum forward
current, and the peak inverse voltage rating (PIV) of the diode. In the previous power diodes tutorial we discussed
ways of reducing the ripple or voltage variations on a direct DC voltage by connecting smoothing capacitors
across the load resistance.
The bridge rectifier is made up of four diodes namely D1, D2, D3, D4 and load resistor RL. The four diodes are
connected in a closed loop (Bridge) configuration to efficiently convert the alternating current (AC) into direct
current (DC). Figure 1 shows the construction of Bridge full wave Rectifier.

Fig. 1: Bridge full wave rectifier.

The four diodes labeled D1 to D4 are arranged in "series pairs" with only two diodes conducting current during
each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while
diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load. During the negative half cycle of the
supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1 and D2 switch “OFF” as they are now reverse biased.
The current flowing through the load is the same direction as before. Figure 2 shows the full wave Rectifier wave
input-output signals.
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 Vsp = Source peak Voltage.
Vop = output peak voltage.

Fig. 2: Waveforms of the Full-Wave Rectifier.

In this circuit, two diodes are always in series with the load resistor during both the positive and
negative half-cycles. If these diode drops are taken into account, the output peak voltage is:

The DC output voltage of the full-wave rectifier is given by:

The peak inverse voltage of each diode in the circuit is given by:

As mentioned in the previous experiment the ripple factor is a measure of purity of the d.c. output of a
rectifier and is defined as:
𝑉𝑎𝑐 (𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡) 2 − 𝑉2
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑑𝑐
2
𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 0.707 2
𝑟= =√ = √ − 1 = √( ) − 1 = 0.48
𝑉𝑑𝑐 (𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡) 2 2 0.637
𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑉𝑑𝑐

The full-wave rectifier circuit with capacitor filter is shown in Fig. 3. The smoothing capacitor converts
the full wave rippled output of the rectifier into a smooth dc output voltage. The detailed description of its
filtering action is already explained in half-wave rectifier handout.

4- Procedure
Connect the Full Wave Bridge Rectifier circuit with 33 𝐾Ω load resistor shown in Fig. 4. Measure the
input and output a.c. voltages (𝑉𝑎𝑐 ), as well as d.c. (𝑉𝑑𝑐 ) voltage using Multimeter (Be careful to choose
proper settings of Multimeter for ac and dc measurements).
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 Fig. 4: Full Wave Bridge Rectifier circuit.

i) Multiply the 𝑽𝒂𝒄 at the input by √𝟐 to get the peak value and calculate 𝑽𝒅𝒄 using the formula 𝑽𝒅𝒄 =
𝟐 𝑽𝒎𝒂𝒙
. Compare this value with the measured 𝑽𝒅𝒄 at the output. Also Calculate the ripple factor and fill
𝝅
Table 1 shown below.

Table 1: Results of full wave rectifier.

Input Output voltage

𝟐 𝑽𝒎𝒂𝒙 Ripple
voltage
𝑽𝒂𝒄 (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕) 𝑽𝒅𝒄 (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕) 𝝅 Factor 𝒓
𝑽𝒂𝒄 (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕) (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕)

i) Connect the capacitor across the output load resistor. Measure the output a.c. and d.c. voltages once again
and calculate the ripple factor. Draw the output waveforms in oscilloscope and notice the change. Use
different values of capacitors (1.1 𝜇𝐹 & 3.3 𝜇𝐹 Capacitors) and study the output. Also Calculate the ripple
factor and fill Table 2 shown below.

Fig. 5: Full Wave Bridge Rectifier circuit with capacitor filter.

Capacitor Output voltage

Ripple Factor 𝒓
value 𝑽𝒂𝒄 (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕) 𝑽𝒅𝒄 (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕)
𝟏. 𝟏 𝝁𝑭
𝟑. 𝟑 𝝁𝑭

5- Discussion
a. Calculate the efficiency of the Bridge Full-Wave Rectifier.
b. Draw the input output waveforms for both circuits (without and with capacitor filter).
c. Explain the effect of increasing the filter capacitance on the output voltage.
d. What is the advantages and disadvantages of Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier over Half Wave Rectifier?
e. If diode D4 in the bridge rectifier circuit of Figure 5 was removed or burned, explain the
operation of the circuit in this case and sketch the predicted waveform of the output.

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