Principles of Rectification

BasicPrinciple of Rectification

Rectifiers change ac into pulsating dc by eliminating the nega Live half’cycles or alternating the ac voltage. Only a series of sinewave pulsations of positive polarity remain. An ideal rectifier may be thought of as a switch that closes a load circuit whenever the polarity of the alternating voltage is positive, and opens the circuit whenever the alternating voltage is of negative polarity. A switch
operating with such synchronism would have effectively zero resistance for that half of the time when the circuit is closed during positive half-cycles and infinite resistance for the other

half of the time when the circuit is open cycles. Practical rectifiers do not attain this to it. Some vacuum tube rectifiers may resistance during the nonconducting inte but the resistance during the conducting during negative half goal, but come close have almost infinite (back resistance),

interval (forward resistance) is never zero or even constant. Regardless of their app roach to the ideal, all rectifiers must provide a oneway path for electric current; that is, conduction must take place primarily in one direction only. This is called unilateral conduction, or a unidirectional characteristic.