Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Brac University
EEE101L
ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS I LABORATORY
Project
Section: 06
Project Title : Design a circuit which will give a fluctuating DC
Output voltage for an Input Square Wave.
Prepared by :
Group Number: 01
Group members:
SL. ID Name
1. 1000056508 Tahsinul Fahim
2. 1000056976 Alif Ahamed Sadif
3. 1000056490 Mohammad Farhan Hasan
Project Title : Designing a circuit which will give a fluctuating DC Output voltage for an Input
Square Wave.
Problem Statement : In this project, an RC circuit is designed using a square wave as the
source voltage. The square wave source has a peak amplitude of 24V and a minimum
amplitude of 0 V, with a frequency of 20Hz. The output voltage is taken across the capacitor
and varies with time. In addition, the driving voltage applied to the capacitor is required to be
another square wave with a peak amplitude of 10 V and a minimum amplitude of 0 V at the
same frequency. The time constant of the circuit is 1ms. Finally, the input and output voltage
waveforms are to be displayed in PSpice for the first 10 cycles.
Design :
Our group number is 1.
Therefore,G = 1
Now, in the circuit let's set the source voltage. It is mentioned that we will use a square wave
as our source voltage where the Peak Amplitude of the square wave would be (19+G) V and
Minimum Amplitude would be 0 V with a frequency of (20×G) Hz.
Therefore,
The Minimum Amplitude of the square wave, V1 = 0V
The Peak Amplitude of the square wave,
V2 = ( 19 + 1)=20V
Frequency,
f = ( 20 × 1) Hz= 20Hz
It is also mentioned that the driving voltage of the capacitor should be a square wave where
the Peak Amplitude is 10 V and Minimum Amplitude is 0 V.
Therefore,
The Peak Amplitude of the square wave,Vc = 10 V
To construct the required circuit, one voltage source is used to generate a square wave input,
along with two resistors, one capacitor, and a ground connection. In the designed circuit, the
resistor R2 and the capacitor C are connected in a parallel configuration, while the resistor R1 is
connected in series with this parallel combination. The voltage source is connected to the first
terminal of the R1 resistor and to the lower (common) terminal of both the R2 resistor and the
capacitor.
Now,let's determine the value of the components -
Firstly,let's consider the capacitance of the capacitor in the designed circuit is 1 uF.
Let's apply Voltage Divider Rule in the designed circuit and determine the voltage across R2
resistor -
V(R2) = [R2 / ( R1 + R2)] × 20
=> 10 = [ R2 / ( R1 + R2) ] × 20
(Since,R2 resistor and C capacitor are connected in parallel connection, the voltage across R2
resistor will be the same as the capacitor C)
So, V(R2) = Vc = 10 V
=> 10 / 20 = R2 / ( R1 + R2)
=> 0.5 = R2 / ( R1 + R2)
=> R1 + R2 = 2R2
=> R1 = 2R2 - R2
=> R1 = R2
=> R1 = R2 (i)
From the problem statement, we find that - Time constant, T = 1 ms
Therefore,
Rth × C = 1 ms
=> Rth × 1uF = 1 ms
=> Rth × 10 -6 = 10 -3
-3
=> Rth = 10 / 10 - 6
= 1000 ohm
(Since,Time constant, T = Rth × C)
Now, turn off the independent voltage source in the designed circuit and determine the
Thevenin's equivalent resistance across the capacitor 's terminal,
Rth = R1 ll R2
=>1000 = ( R1 × R2 ) / ( R1 + R2 )
=> 1000R1 + 1000R2 = R1 × R2
=> (1000 ×R2 ) + 1000R2 = R22
=> 2000R2 = R22
=> R2 = 2000 ohm = 2k ohm
Therefore, R1=2k ohm
We have designed a circuit with two resistors ‘R1’ and ‘R2’ alongside a capacitor marked ‘C’.The
values are mentioned below,
R1 = 2 k ohm
R2 = 2 k ohm
C=1uF
Time Period (Time to complete a full cycle) ,T = 1/f = 1/20 = 0.05 s = 50 ms
The driving voltage across the capacitor is the same as the voltage across the resistor R2, since both
components are connected in a parallel configuration. Therefore, the Voltage Divider Rule is applied to
calculate the driving voltage of the capacitor from the source voltage.
The Circuit is presented bellow,
Figure : Circuit Design
PSpice Circuit Diagram :
To determine the driving voltage of the capacitor,
Simulation Parameters :
DC = 0 V
AC = 0 V
V1 = 0 V ( Minimum Amplitude of the square wave of source voltage)
V2 = 20 V ( Peak Amplitude of the square wave of source voltage)
TD = 0 s
TR = 1ns (Rise Time)
TF = 1ns (Fall Time)
PW = 25ms ( PW = Time to complete a half-cycle = T/2 = 50 / 2 = 25 ms)
PER = 50 ms ( PER = Time to complete one full cycle = 50 ms)
The Simulation run time is set to 1000ms based on the number of cycles required to be shown in
the graph according to the problem statement.
Time period is 50ms, for the first 10 cycles the run time should be (50x10)ms=500ms.
Input / Output Waveforms :
Input Graph :
Output Graph (capacitor):
Graph of Capacitor’s Driving Voltage :
Input and Output Graph (combined) :
Discussion : In this project, we set a square wave as the input signal for our RC
circuit, with a peak amplitude of 20 V, a minimum amplitude of 0 V, and a frequency of
20 Hz. The purpose of this input configuration was to achieve the desired driving
voltage across the capacitor as the output. The square wave input alternates
periodically between its peak and minimum values, providing a clear and predictable
voltage variation that allows the capacitor to charge and discharge repeatedly,
producing the required fluctuating output.
To determine the appropriate values for the resistors and the capacitor, we used Thevenin’s
equivalent resistance of the circuit along with the given time constant. These calculations ensured
that the circuit would respond correctly to the square wave input and generate the desired voltage
fluctuations across the capacitor. After completing these calculations, the circuit was successfully
constructed according to the design specifications.
The simulation results, as shown in the graphs, confirm the correctness of our design and
construction. The output voltage across the capacitor is a fluctuating DC signal, with a peak
amplitude of 10 V and a minimum amplitude of 0 V. This confirms that the circuit responds as
intended to the square wave input, and the capacitor is charged and discharged in a manner
consistent with the design goals.
Conclusion:The designed RC circuit successfully produces the desired fluctuating voltage
across the capacitor in response to the square wave input. The simulation results confirm that the
circuit operates as intended, with the capacitor voltage varying between 0 V and 10 V while
maintaining the time constant of 1ms, validating the design and component selection.