Power supply design in the undergraduate curriculum

Even though the electronic power supply is one of the most common circuits, its design is often mentioned only briefly in the undergraduate curriculum. The approximate analyses in most textbooks fail to cover the rms current requirements of the transformer, and they are not sufficiently detailed for the use in the design of power supplies. The common case of low-voltage ripple is seldom addressed. This paper presents a power supply analysis suitable for design in the undergraduate curriculum. By using ordinary scientific calculators available to most students, it is possible to design common power supplies and to determine the various nonsinusoidal currents and voltages in the network. Straightforward methods are provided to determine peak and rms current requirements of the components.