THREE-PHASE

DIODE RECTIFIERS

Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, the student should be able to:

Explain, with the help of voltage and current waveforms, the operation of
three-pulse, six-pulse, and twelve pulse diode (uncontrolled) rectifiers with
resistive, inductive, and capacitive loads

Analyse the operation of six-pulse and twelve-pulse diode rectifiers and

solve for circuit voltages and currents.

In industrial applications where three-phase ac voltages are available, it is

preferable to use three-phase rectifier circuits, compared to single-phase
rectifiers.
Three-phase rectifiers have the following advantages compared with singlephase rectifiers:
higher output voltage for a given input voltage
lower amplitude ripples, i.e. output voltage is smoother
higher frequency ripples, simplifying filtering
higher power-handling capability
higher overall efficiency
Three-phase rectifiers use either three, six, or twelve diodes. Using more
diodes reduces the cost by distributing the load current, thus allowing the
use of lower rated devices.

Three-Phase Half-Wave Rectifiers

A basic three-phase half-wave rectifier consisting of three diodes and a
resistive load is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Three-phase half-wave rectifier circuit diagram.

4

Circuit Operation

Each diode conducts for 120o intervals in the

sequence D1, D2, D3,

At any given time, the most positive

instantaneous voltage turns its respective
diode on.

The ON diode connects the most positive

source terminal to the other two diode
cathodes, keeping the other two diodes OFF.
Therefore, only one diode is ON at any time.

The sudden switchover from one diode to

another is called commutation.
Figure 2.

Voltage Waveforms
The output voltage is shown in Figure 3.
Observations:
i. The output voltage across the load vo
follows the peaks of the input phase
voltage and pulsates between Vm and
0.5 Vm.
ii. The output repeats itself three times
in every cycle of the supplys phase
voltage, vs.
iii. The ripple voltage is smaller than that
produced by a single-phase rectifier.

Figure 3. Three-phase half-wave

rectifier voltage waveforms

iv. The ripple frequency (fr) of the output voltage is 3 times the supply
frequency (fs), i.e.,
fr = 3 fs
6

vS
vAN

Average Load Voltage

The average load voltage is
given by

vBN

vCN

vAN

Vm
t

where Vm is the peak value

of the phase voltage.
Average Load Current
By Ohms law, we have

vo
vAN

vBN

Hence,
i. The load current has the same
waveform as the load voltage.
ii. The maximum load current is
given by

vCN

vo(av)

Vm

30o

Vm
2

150o
D1 on

vAN

270o

D2 on

390o

D3 on

Figure 4.

510o

D1 on
7

If the diodes are assumed ideal, then vo(t) = vs(t) and so

(say)
The average load current is given by

Diode Currents
The individual diode currents are equal to the load
current during the time when a particular diode
conducts for its 120o interval. Each diode current is
then zero for a 240o interval.

Figure 3. Current waveforms

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In general, each diode conducts for a period of 2/3. The average current in
each diode is only one-third of the load current:

The maximum load current and maximum diode current are the same, i.e.,
io(max) = I D(max) = Im
The RMS value of the load current is

where

It can be shown that for this rectifier circuit

Ripple factor,
Form factor,
Peak inverse voltage across diode,
Conversion Efficiency
The effectiveness of the rectifier in converting the input ac power to useful dc
power is given by the figure of merit called the conversion efficiency.
Mathematically, conversion efficiency, c,

10

Worked Example
A three-pulse uncontrolled rectifier is connected to a 3-, 4-wire, 220 V AC
source. If the load resistance is 20 , find
(a) the maximum load voltage
(b) the average load voltage
(c) the average load current
(d) the maximum load current
(e) the maximum diode current
(f) the PIV rating of the diode
(g) the average diode current

Figure 6. Three-phase half-wave circuit diagram.

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Solution
(a) The maximum value of the line voltage is

The maximum value of the phase voltage is

The maximum load voltage is the same as the maximum

phase voltage. Hence,
vo(max) = Vm = 179.6 V
(b) Average output voltage

12

Solution (continued)
c) Average output current

(d) Max output current

(e) Max diode current

(f) Peak inverse voltage across diode

(g) Average diode current

13

Three phase diode bridge rectifier

The three phase half-wave rectifier suffers from several disadvantages. Chief
among them are dc component in the input ac current, requirement of neutral
connection and comparatively lower output voltage. In addition, the input and
output waveforms contain lower order harmonics which require heavy filtering.
Most of these disadvantages can be mitigated by using a three phase full-wave
diode bridge rectifier. This is probably the most extensively used rectifier
topology from low (>5 KW) to moderately high power (> 100 KW) applications.
In the following sections the operation of a three phase full wave uncontrolled
bridge rectifier with different types of loads, namely the R, -R-L, R-E, R L E
type load and the capacitive load will be described.

14

Three-Phase Full-Wave Rectifiers: R Load

The three-phase full-wave (six-pulse) bridge rectifier is one of the most important
circuits in high power applications. The rectifier can be connected directly to a
three-phase source, or it can use a three-phase transformer connected in a -Y. Y, or - connection. Figure 7 shows a three-phase diode bridge rectifier supplied
from a -Y transformer.

Figure 7. A three-phase full-wave diode bridge rectifier circuit supplied from a

-Y transformer.
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Circuit Operation
Operation of the circuit can be summarized as follows:

The bridge rectifier uses both the negative and positive half of the
input voltage to supply power to the load.

Two series diodes are always conducting, while the other four are
blocking

Each diode conducts for 120o, or one-third of a cycle.

Current flows out from the most positive source terminal, through
an odd-numbered diode, through the load, through an evennumbered diode, and then back to the most negative source
terminal.

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Average Load Voltage

The average load voltage is given
by

where Vm (LL) = peak value of the Line-line

voltage.
Vm = peak value of the phase voltage.
VLL = rms value of the line-line voltage.
RMS Load Voltage
The rms output voltage is

where

Figure 8
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Average Load Current

The average load current is given by

where

Diode Currents
As with the three-pulse rectifier, the
individual diode currents are equal to the
load current during the time when a
particular diode conducts for its 120o
interval. Each diode current is then zero
for a 240o interval. The current through the
diodes is shown in Figure 9. Each diode
still conducts for 120o.

Figure 9. Diode current waveforms.

18

The average current in one of the diodes is

only one-third of the load current:

The rms value of the diode current is

= 0.5518Im
Line Currents
The line currents iA, iB, iC supplied by the
transformer can be obtained from Kirchhoffs
current law:
Figure 10. A three-phase full-wave
diode bridge rectifier circuit.

19

The line currents are plotted in Figure 11. Note that the three line currents
consist of identical waves that are 120o out of phase.

Figure 11. Line current waveforms.

For the 6-pulse rectifier, peak inverse voltage across diode is
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10

Worked Example
A six-pulse uncontrolled rectifier is connected to a 3-, 208 V, 60 Hz source. If
the load resistance is 5 , find
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.

the average load voltage

the average load current
the average diode current
the maximum diode current
the PIV rating of the diode
the conversion efficiency, c

Figure 12. A sixpulse uncontrolled

rectifier.

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Solution
(i) The maximum value of the line voltage is

The maximum value of the phase voltage is

The average load voltage is

(ii) Average load current

(iii) Average diode current

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11

Solution (continued)
(iv) Peak diode current

(v) Peak inverse voltage across

diode

(vi) Conversion efficiency,

23

Worked Example
A three-phase bridge rectifier has a purely resistive load of R. Determine
(a) Peak output voltage
(b) RMS output voltage
(c) DC output power
(d) Total output power
(e) Efficiency,
(f) FF
(g) RF
The rectifier delivers Idc = 50 A at an output voltage of Vdc = 300 V and the source
frequency is 50 Hz.

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12

Solution
(a) Peak output voltage
(e) Efficiency,

From Vdc = 1.654Vm,

V
(b) RMS output voltage

(f) Form factor

From Vrms = 1.654Vm,

(c) DC output power

(g) Ripple factor

(d) Total output power

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Three-Phase Full-Wave (Six-Pulse) Rectifiers: R-L Load

For the case where L is infinitely large, the R-L load can be approximated as a
constant current load. To the load resistance R, the diodes and inductor
combination forms what is called a stiff current source.

io

ia

van
n

D1

D3

D5

D4

D6

D2

ib

vbn
vccn

vo

ic

Constant current load

Figure 13. Three-phase six-pulse rectifier with R-L load as a constant
current load.

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13

Circuit Operation
Current Idc flows through one diode from the top group and one from the
bottom group.

In the top group, the diode with its anode at the highest potential will conduct
and the other two become reverse biased.

In the bottom group, the diode with its cathode at the lowest potential will
conduct and the other two become reverse biased.

The commutation of current from one diode to the next is instantaneous in the
ideal case of zero source or leakage inductance.
io

D1

ia

van
n

D3

D5

Figure 13.

ib

vbn
vccn

ic
D4

D6

vo

D2

Constant current load

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Voltage and current waveforms

The instantaneous waveform of vo consists of six

segments per cycle of line frequency.

Each segment belongs to one of the six line-to-line

voltage combinations.

Each diode conducts for 120o.

Considering the phase a current waveform in Figure

14,

Figure 14. Current waveforms

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14

As with the purely resistive load case, the average or dc

output voltage is given by

where Vm = peak value of the phase voltage. In term of the rms

line-to-line voltage,

For a constant output current, its rms value is the same as its
average value, that is,

The diode conducts for one third of the cycle. Therefore, the average
diode current is

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The rms value of the diode current is

From the relation iA = i1 i4, we can obtain an expression relating the rms
value of the line current to the rms value of the diode current as

Since the line currents are exactly of the same waveform to each other, then

30

15

The value of inductance of the smoothing choke required to produce the specified
peak-to-peak output current ripple can be obtained from the relation
io

io

where
io = peak-to-peak output current ripple

io(av)

io(av) = average output current

t

Pdc = dc power drawn by the load [W]

fs = frequency of the 3-phase, 6-pulse source [Hz]

Figure 15

W L = dc energy stored in the inductor [J]

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Worked Example
A three-phase full-wave diode bridge rectifier supplied from a 415 V, 50 Hz
source has an R-L load. If the inductance is very large and the load
resistance is 5 , determine
(a) the average load voltage
(b) the rms diode current
(c) the rms line current, and
(d) the input power factor.

Figure 16. Three-phase six-pulse rectifier with R-L load.

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16

Solution.
This is one instance where we can assume that the infinite load inductance gives
a very smooth (constant) output current to a resistive load R
(a) The average load voltage is given by the expression

Hence,

(b) The rms diode current is related to the average load current by
where
Hence,

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(c) The rms line current is related to the average load current as follows:

Hence,

(d) For a lossless conversion process, the average input power is equal to
average load power. Hence,

Rectifier input VA,

Input power factor,

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17

Example
A six-pulse diode rectifier connected to a 3-phase, 220 V source is supplying an
RL load. If the inductance is very large and the load resistance is 50 , find
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.

the average load voltage

the average load current
the PIV rating of the diode
the average diode current
the RMS load current
the RMS diode current
the power to the load

Figure 17. Three-phase six-pulse rectifier with R-L load.

35

Solution
(a) Peak line voltage is

Average output voltage is

b) Average load current is

(c) PIV vL(max) = 311 V

(d) Average load current is

36

18

(e)
(f)
(Close to the average load current since the ripple is very small).
(f)

RMS diode current is

(g)

Power to the load is

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Worked Example
A 3-phase bridge rectifier has to supply power to a 360 kW, 240 V dc load. If a
600 V, 3-phase, 60 Hz supply is available, calculate the inductance of the
smoothing choke required, if the peak-to-peak ripple in the output current is
not to exceed 5 percent.

io

io

io(av)

Figure 18
t

38

19

Solution
The peak-to-peak output current ripple is given by

where
Pdc = 360 kW
fs = 60 Hz
W L = dc energy stored in the inductor [J]
Substituting the values given into the above expression, we obtain

Hence
W L = 204 J
39

Consequently, the inductor must store 204 J in its magnetic field. The
inductance is found from

Substituting the known values into the above expression, we obtain

or
L = 0.18 mH

40

20

Three-Phase Diode Bridge Rectifier with RC Load

To reduce the ripple on the output voltage, a large capacitor is sometimes
connected in parallel with the load. A circuit diagram for a three-phase diode
bridge rectifier with an RC load is shown in Figure 19.
ii

D1

D3

io

ic

D5

ia

van

ib

vbn

C
c
vcn

ic
D4

D6

vo
R

D2

Figure 19: Three-phase diode bridge rectifier supplying an R-C load.

Note
For C infinitely large, then the rectifier diodes and capacitor forms what is
called a stiff voltage source.
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Vac

Vab
Va

-Vb

-Vc

Vcb

Vbc

Vb

Vc

-Va
Vca

Vba

(a)

Figure 20: (a) Phasor diagram; (b) voltage and current waveforms of the 3phase diode bridge rectifier supplying capacitive load.
42

21

Operation

The top group diodes (D1, D3, D5) form

a Maximum value circuit and therefore
the maximum of the phase voltages van,
vbn, vcn appears at the positive dc bus.

On the other hand, the bottom group

diodes (D2, D4, D6) form a Minimum
value circuit. Therefore the minimum of
the phase voltages van, vbn and vcn
appears at the negative dc bus.

The output voltage waveform at any

instant is equal to the maximum of the six
line voltages vab, vbc, vca, vba, vcb and vac
provided at least one diode from the top
group and one from the bottom group
conducts at that instant.
Figure 20(b)
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Operation (continued)

None of the diodes will conduct if the

output capacitor voltage is larger than the
maximum line voltage.

All the six operating modes of a 3 phase

bridge rectifier namely, D1D2, D2D3,
D3D4, D4D5, D5D6 and D6D1 appear in
that order.

In addition an additional operating mode

in which none of the diodes conduct
appears in the conduction diagram.

Figure 20(b)
44

22

Operation (continued)

During these periods the output

capacitor discharges through the load.

As the capacitor voltage decreases its

voltage becomes equal to the
incoming line voltage.

At this instant the appropriate diodes

from both the top and the bottom
group starts conducting and
continuous to do so till the sum of the
capacitor charging current and the
load current becomes zero.

Figure 20(b)
45

The capacitor is charged in the interval t , where

and
In the interval t , the instantaneous output voltage is given by

The charging current is

The output current is

The bridge output current is

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The angle at which the capacitor charging starts is obtained by solving

the equation

The current ii is discontinuous and contains large ripple. This is a major

disadvantage of this converter. This ripple is also reflected in the input
current of the rectifier. However, the displacement factor of the converter still
remains unity.
Example
A three-phase full-wave rectifier supplies a resistive-capacitive load of 50 A
from a 220 V, 3-phase, 50 Hz supply. Find out the value of the load
capacitance such that the load voltage ripple is less than 5 %.

47

Solution
The output voltage waveform will the waveshape shown in Figure 21.
From figure 21, we can write the average
output voltage as

The peak-to-peak output voltage is

vo

vo(max)

vo(min)

vo(av)

time

Figure 21
The per unit ripple is defined by the ratio

48

24

Hence,

We can rewrite the above expression as

vo

Therefore,

vo(max)

vo(min)

vo(av)

time

Figure 21
When the diode is conducting current, the output voltage vo is
equal to the line voltage vLL. Hence,

49

The output voltage vo is maximum when vLL is maximum; hence

Therefore,

Therefore,

The load resistance R is given by the ratio

50

25

Given that io(av) = 50 A, we hence obtain

To find the start angle , we note that vo(min) occurs at t = . Therefore,

Solving for sin , we obtain

.
.

Hence

To find C, we use the relation

51

where
Solving numerically for , we obtain = 4.118o. Therefore,

Therefore,

Substituting in the value of R = 6.0694 , we get

52

26

Three-Phase Full-Wave Diode Rectifier: RLE Load

For the most general treatment on the six-pulse diode rectifier circuit, we consider
an RLE load, without any assumption about the magnitude of the inductor (see
Figure 22).
io
D1

vA

D3

D5

vB
vo

vC
D4

D6

D2

L
E

Figure 22
To start the analysis, we assume that the R. L, and E values are such that they
cause the output voltage to be continuous. The output voltage, vo, within the 0to-/3 interval equals the line-to-line voltage vAB, i.e,

where vAB(t)=VLL(m)sin( t+ /3), and VLL(m) denotes the peak value of the supply
line-to-line voltage.
53

Since the output voltage waveform repeats itself every /3 rad, the average
output voltage vo(av) can be found as

In terms of angle (= t), the average output voltage can be obtained from

Using

, we obtain

54

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The output current io(t) is given by the expression

For continuous flow of load current io(t), we require that

or

where
55

All the equations derived from the RLE load can be easily for simpler loads
by using the following substitutions:
1.
2.
3.

R-E load (such as a battery charged from a rectifier) :

Set = 0.
R-L load (such as an electromagnet or solenoid): Set
kE = 0.
R load (such as an electrochemical process) : Set kE
= 0.

Example ( Six-Pulse Diode Rectifier with R-E Load)

A 270-V battery pack is charged from a six-pulse diode rectifier supplied from
a 230-V ac line. The internal resistance of the battery pack is 0.72 .
Calculate the dc charging current.
Solution
The load EMF coefficient, kE, is

56

28

The load angle, , is zero, since no load inductance is assumed. Therefore,

the condition

for continuous conduction is

and it is satisfied. Consequently, the dc output voltage, vo(av) of the rectifier

is

57

The average output current, io(av), is given by the simple expression

since no dc voltage appears across the load inductance. Thus,

58

29

Effect of source inductance on the output voltage

When a source inductance Ls is present on the
secondary side of the transformer source the current
cannot change instantly but must be transferred
gradually from one diode pair to the other over a
commutation interval , as shown in Figure 23(b).
The commutation interval is given by
(a)
The effect of the source inductance is to lower the
average output voltage. The average output voltage
due to the effect of commutation is

Figure 23

(b)
59

Example:
A three-phase bridge rectifier is supplied from a Y-connected 208-V, 60-Hz
supply. The average load current is 60 A and has negligible ripple. Calculate the
percentage reduction of output voltage due to commutation if the line
inductance per phase is 0.5 mH.
Solution
Given Lc = 0.5 mH, f = 60 Hz, Idc = 60 A,
Therefore,
VLLm= 2 x VLL = 2 x 208 = 294.156 V
Hence

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30

Twelve-Pulse Rectifier
The 12-pulse diode rectifier is used when a lower ripple voltage is required. On
way to obtain a 12-pulse diode rectifier circuit is to connect two three-phase
rectifiers in connected in series, as shown in Figure x. One of the bridges is
supplied through a Y-Y connected transformer, and the other through a Y- (or
-Y) transformer.

Figure 24. Two 6-pulse circuits connected in series to make a 12-pulse rectifier.
61

Twelve symmetric pulses result from shifting

the 3-phase ac sources supplying the two
bridges by /6 with respect to one another. The
shift required is provided by the 3-phase Y-Y
and Y- transformers used to supply power to
the two diode bridges. Because each of the 6pulse bridges operates independently, the
output voltage vo is the sum of vo1 and vo2:

Figure 25. (a) A twelve-pulse three-phase diode

rectifier; (b) Output voltage waveforms.

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The current in the star and delta secondary windings are as shown in Figure 26.
The turns ratio for the delta is different from the star by 3; hence
Iprimary = Istar + Idelta,
giving the stepped wave shown in Figure 26.

Figure 26. Current waveshapes in the primary windings of the Y-Y and Y-
transformers.
63

The peak output voltage of the twelve-pulse rectifier occurs midway between
alternate peaks of the six-pulse rectifier. Adding the voltages at that point gives

Another advantage of the using a twelve-pulse rectifier rather than a six-pulse

rectifier is the reduced harmonics that occur in the ac system.
The current in the ac line supplying the Y-Y transformer is represented by the
Fourier series

The current in the ac lines supplying the Y- transformer is represented by the

Fourier series

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32

The Fourier series for the two currents are similar, but some terms have different
algebraic signs. The ac system current, which is the sum of those transformer
currents, has the Fourier series

Thus, some of the harmonics on the ac side are cancelled by using the twelvepulse scheme rather than the six-pulse scheme. The harmonics that remain in the
ac system are of the order 12k1. Cancellation of harmonic 6(2n-1)1 has
resulted from this transformer and rectifier configuration.
This principle can be expanded to arrangements of higher pulse numbers by
incorporating increased numbers of six-pulse rectifiers. Power system rectifiers
have a practical limitation of twelve pulses because of the large expense of
producing high-voltage transformers with the appropriate phase shifts. However,
low-voltage industrial systems commonly have rectifiers with up to 48 pulses.

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