A Graphical Analysis of the Voltage and Current Wave Forms of Controlled Rectifier Circuits

Controlled rectifiers employing gaseous discharge tubes are used more and more frequently in the industrial field owing to the ease of control of the output voltage and the high conversion efficiency. The voltage and current wave forms at the different parts of controlled rectifier circuits are often non-sinusoidal and discontinuous due to the one-way valve-acton of the rectifying elements. This paper presentsagraphical method of constructing the voltage and current wave forms based on a few well-known fundamental principles of electrical engineering. This method is presented step by step and a few typical examples are shown to illustrate its validity.