Alternating-Current Circuits

Dr.S.Manoharan
Alternating current
is commonly used
everyday in homes
and businesses
throughout the
word to power
various electrical
appliances
 Voltage in AC Circuits
v  Vmax sin t
2
  2f 
T

The voltage supplied by an AC source is sinusoidal with a period T

Resistors in AC Circuits
v  iR R  0
v Vmax
iR   sin t  I m ax sin t
R R
Vmax
I m ax 
R
RMS Current & RMS Voltage
• The notation rms stands for root-mean-square, which
means the square root of the mean (average) value

I rms  (i 2 ) avg
2 1 2
i  I max
2
I m ax
I rms   0.707 I m ax
2
Pavg  I 2 rms R
Vm ax
Vrms   0.707Vm ax
2
 Inductors in an AC Circuit

v  v L0vL  0
di di Instantaneous current and voltage are out of phase by /2
v  
Lv LL 0L  0
dt dt
V
diL diL I m ax  max
v  Lv  L Vmaxsin Vmaxsin
t t L
dt dt
V Vmax L is defined as inductive reactance XL
diL diL max sin sin
tdttdt
L L
V V V Vmax X L  L
iL  iL max  max
L L

sin  sin
tdttdt  max cos
 t t
cos
t t

V Vmax  
iL  iL max sin( sin(
t  t)  )
t t 2 2
 Capacitors in an AC Circuit

v  vC  0
q
v  0
C Instantaneous current and voltage are out of phase by /2
q  C Vmax sin t
Vmax
dq I m ax  CVmax 
ic   C Vmax cos t (1/ C )
dt (1/C) is defined as capacitive reactance XC

ic  C Vmax sin(t  )
2 X C  1/ C
Three-phase power circuits
Introduction

Almost all electric power generation and most of the

power transmission in the world is in the form of three-
phase AC circuits. A three-phase AC system consists of
three-phase generators, transmission lines, and loads.

There are two major advantages of three-phase systems

over a single-phase system:
1)More power per kilogram of metal form a three-phase
machine;
2)Power delivered to a three-phase load is constant at all
time, instead of pulsing as it does in a single-phase
system.

The first three-phase electrical system was patented in

1882 by John Hopkinson - British physicist, electrical
engineer, Fellow of the Royal Society.
 Generation of three-phase
voltages and currents
A three-phase
generator consists
of three single-
phase generators
with voltages of
equal amplitudes
and phase
differences of 1200.
Three Phase AC Generator
 How are the sources connected?

• (a) shows the sources

(phases) connected in
a wye (Y).
– Notice the fourth
terminal, known as
Neutral.
• (b) shows the sources
(phases) connected in
a delta (∆).
– Three terminals

ECE 441 12
 Power relationships
Line quantities: Y-connection.

Power consumed by a load: P  3V I cos  (3.22.1)

Since for this load I L  I and VLL  3V (3.22.2)

VLL
Therefore: P3 I L cos  (3.22.3)
3

Finally: P  3VLL I L cos  (3.22.4)

Note: these equations are valid for balanced loads only.

 Power relationships
Line quantities: -connection.

Power consumed by a load: P  3V I cos  (3.23.1)

Since for this load I L  3I and VLL  V (3.23.2)

IL
Therefore: P3 VLL cos  (3.23.3)
3

Finally: P  3VLL I L cos  (3.23.4)

Same as for a Y-connected load!

Note: these equations were derived for a balanced load.
Thank you

drsmano@gmail.com
94426 33146