EE 2221
Capacitor Filter
Half-wave Full-wave
Ideal supply voltage
Half-wave Rectifier with Capacitor Filter
Half – Wave Rectifier with C – filter
➢Assume that the capacitor is initially uncharged and 𝑉𝑐 = 0.
➢During the first positive half-cycle, from 𝑡0 to 𝑡1, the anode is at positive
potential and cathode at zero potential (the current would tend to go in the
clockwise direction).
➢ The diode is forward biased and the capacitor will charge with the upper
terminal positively charged and the lower terminal negatively-charged.
➢ The capacitor voltage will reach a maximum voltage equal to the peak value of
the source: 𝑉𝑐 = 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑘.
𝑣𝐿 = 𝑣𝐶 = 𝑒𝑆
𝑉𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑘
• From 𝑡1 to 𝑡2, when 𝑒𝑠 < 𝑉𝑐 ,
cathode at higher potential
relative to the anode; diode
reverse-biased; capacitor
discharges through 𝑅𝐿 and 𝑉𝑐
decreases.
𝑣𝐿 = 𝑣𝐶
From 𝑡2 to 𝑡3 (negative half-cycle),
cathode still at higher potential relative
to the anode, diode remains reverse
biased and capacitor continues to
discharge through 𝑅𝐿 and capacitor
voltages decreases further.
𝑣𝐿 = 𝑣𝐶
𝑒𝑠 < 𝑉𝐶
From 𝑡3 to 𝑡4, (second positive half-cycle)
when the source voltage is greater than
the capacitor voltage, the anode is at a
higher potential relative to the cathode;
diode is forward-biased. The capacitor
recharges up to a maximum voltage equal
to the peak value of the source voltage.
𝑒𝑠 < 𝑉𝐶 𝑣𝐿 = 𝑣𝐶
𝑉𝑐
𝑣𝐿 = 𝑣𝐶 = 𝑒𝑆
𝑉𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑘
In subsequent
cycles, the diode
periodically goes
through forward-
bias and reverse-
bias states and
the capacitor
undergoes
charging and
discharging,
respectively.
Full-Wave Rectifier
Ripple Factor, 𝒌𝒓 : measure of smoothness of the output
(or how close the output is to ideal dc)
𝑅𝑀𝑆 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒
𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
Ideal value=0; the smaller the 𝒌𝒓 the small the variations in the output
Derivation of ripple factor for half-wave and full-wave rectification
Derivation of capacitance in terms of peak ripple voltage
Example: Design a full-wave bridge-type C-filtered power supply with the following specifications