D S Henderson

F. Vedreño-Santos
February 2017
ELE10106

Thyristor Control of a Resistive Load

Objective
To study how the output voltage waveform and the Thyristor gate trigger pulse
waveform vary with delay angle for a Full-wave Power Electronics Control Unit
comprising a single-phase, half controlled bridge rectifier supplying a resistive load.
Introduction
The experiment has been designed to complement the lectures on the basic principles
of Thyristor-controlled rectification. Output voltage and corresponding gate trigger
pulses will be displayed and recorded at specified delay angles and a graph of load
voltage against the delay (or firing) angle (α) will be drawn.
Apparatus
1 - PE481 Power Electronics Control Unit and,
1 - PE481B Full-Wave Thyristor Circuits module
Or;
1 - PE483 Power Electronics Control Unit with integral full-wave thyristor circuits and,
1 – Diginess hand-held multimeter c/w probes
And,
1 - PE482A Motor Control Circuits module
1 – Tektronix TDS1002 digital double beam oscilloscope.
1 – Slide-wire rheostat, 107 Ω or 110 Ω or 115 Ω, 2.8 A.
2 – Resistors, 1 MΩ and 10 kΩ, 0.5 W mounted on a component board.
Inter-connectors/stacking plugs as required.

Warnings
1. THE VOLTAGES USED IN THIS EXPERIMENT ARE DANGEROUS.
2. ENSURE THAT THE LAST CONNECTIONS MADE ARE THOSE TO THE
ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES.
3. BEFORE SWITCHING ON THE SUPPLIES HAVE THE CIRCUIT CHECKED BY
EACH GROUP MEMBER AND THE LABORATORY SUPERVISOR.
 D S Henderson
F. Vedreño-Santos
February 2017
ELE10106
Procedure
1. With the 240 V, 13 A, bench supply switched OFF and the PE482A Control
Circuit “set value” set to Zero (0) and using wires of appropriate length,
connect the apparatus as shown in Schematic diagram, Figure 1, and the
Connection diagram, Figure 2 (PE481) or Figure 3 (PE483). Connect the 0 V
from the +15 -15 V output to earth. The rheostat should be connected as a
fixed resistance by using the bottom terminals, one at each end. Connect an
earth from the stud on the rheostat to an earth point. Check and adjust, if
necessary, the meter zeros for all connected meters.

Figure 1 – Schematic Diagram

To Load and Attenuator

Figure 2 – Connection Diagram PE481

 D S Henderson
F. Vedreño-Santos
February 2017
ELE10106

To Load and Attenuator

Figure 3 – Connection Diagram PE483
Notes.

i) PE481 Base Unit - Set the “Max O/P” to be 30 V/1 A, “Meter 1 to normal” and on
the 50 V range (forward), and set meter 2 to the 60 V range.
ii) PE483 Unit – Set meter to V/A, forward and to the 60 V range. The connections
for the PE482A Motor Control Circuits module should be as shown in Figure 2.
iii) The “set value” on the PE482A unit controls the point in the cycle at which the
thyristors fire. A “set value” of ‘0’ corresponds to a delay angle, α, of 180° which
gives zero conduction (no output voltage).
iv) The 1 MΩ and 10 kΩ resistors are used as a potential divider to enable the
simultaneous display of the voltage and trigger pulse waveforms. Set the thyristor
firing circuit switch on the PE482A unit to multi-pulse at first, but change to single-
pulse at some point during the experiment to observe the effect on the pulse
waveform.

2. Switch on the Power Electronics Control Unit. The range of delay angle is
restricted for resistive loads and so the “set value” needs only minor adjustment
to reach the maximum output voltage – at approximately ‘3.5’ marks on the dial.
Adjust the “set value” until the dc voltage (PE481 - meter 1) reads its maximum
value, approx. 42 V.
 D S Henderson
F. Vedreño-Santos
February 2017
ELE10106
Switch on the oscilloscope and adjust the settings as required. Use the
VERTICAL POSITION controls to set the baselines (Coupling – Ground) of
Channel 1 and Channel 2 as shown in Figure 4. Reset the couplings to DC.

Ch 1 Trigger
point

Ch 1 Ground

Ch 2 Ground
Figure 4

Variation of Load Voltage with Firing Angle

3. With maximum load voltage (“set value” approx. ‘3.5’) use the HORIZONTAL
POSITION control to arrange the position of the voltage waveform so that the
180° point (i.e. the ‘end’ of a half-cycle) is at a given position on the display. This
will enable subsequent estimation of the delay angle. One half-cycle is 180° and
so the number of degrees per sub-division of the display can be calculated (as a
guide, it should be approx. 9° per sub-division, record the actual value).

The Cursor on the oscilloscope can be used to measure/indicate time (hence

delay angle, 180° ≈ 10 ms). Press the Cursor Menu and Select Type - Time. The
Vertical Position control now becomes the cursor movement control.

4. Prepare a table of results to record delay angle α (°) and dc voltage (V) and
measure and record the dc voltage value for αmin. Sketch the load voltage and
trigger pulse waveforms (multi-pulse firing) for this delay angle on the copy of the
oscilloscope display in Figure 5.1.

5. Reduce the “set value” control to introduce a delay angle of 36° and measure and
record the dc voltage value on your table of results.
 D S Henderson
F. Vedreño-Santos
February 2017
ELE10106
6. Repeat procedure 5 for delay angle steps of 18° up to and including 180°, i.e. 36°,
54°, …, 162°, 180°. For each step, record the measurements of dc voltage and
the delay angle, and sketch the waveforms for α = 54° in Figure 5.2, α = 90° in
Figure 5.3, and α = 144° in Figure 5.4 (also for multi-pulse firing).

7. Read and record the a.c. input voltage to the rectifier circuit, Vrms. For the PE481
unit use meter 2, or for the PE483 unit use the handheld multimeter.

Figure 5.1 Waveforms for αmin = °. Figure 5.2 Waveforms for α = 54°.

Figure 5.3 Waveforms for α = 90°. Figure 5.4 Waveforms for α = 144°.