Cairo University

Power electronics Lab.

Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AC Voltage Control
Introduction
In the last year's experiment, we have investigated various methods used to obtain a
variable DC voltage from either fixed AC or DC voltages. AC-to-DC converters (rectifiers)
employ what is known as phase control, while DC-to-DC converters are known as switchmode converters or choppers.
The same two principles are applicable to AC voltages. A variable voltage AC can be
obtained from either fixed AC or DC voltages. AC-to-AC converters are known as AC voltage
controllers. DC-to-AC converters are known as inverters. It should be noted that there are
other techniques to obtain controllable AC voltages from fixed AC voltages such as cycloconverters but they are beyond the scope of this experiment.

Part I: AC Voltage Controllers

Objectives:
1. AC power control using triacs.
2. Triac trigger circuit example.

Theoretical Background:
The power circuit of the AC voltage controller is shown in Fig.(1). The device employed in this
circuit is the triac.
Triac

Vs

Firing circuit

RL

Fig.(1) Simplified circuit diagram.

The triac is a bi-directional switch capable of conducting current in both directions

under the control of its gate terminal. It is a three-terminal device whose terminals are
known as MT1, MT2 and gate. Current flow in either direction between the main
terminals MT1 and MT2 is initiated by small current applied between MT1 and the gate
terminal. The triac latches ON when its current exceeds the latching current (IL).Triacs
stop conduction when their current is reduced to the holding current (IH).Unlike
thyristors, triacs can be triggered by positive or negative current flow between the gate
and MT1.Like a thyristor, a triac will turn ON if the voltage across it exceeds the break
over voltage even if the gate current is zero.
A triac can be modeled by two thyristors connected back-to-back. With this idea in
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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mind, triac circuits can be analyzed with the simplicity of thyristors circuits. Figure 2 and
3 show the different characteristics of thryristor, triac, and diac.

(a) Thyristor

(b) Triac

(c) Diac

Fig.(2) Block constructions and symbolic diagrams.

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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(a) Thyristor

(b) Triac

(c) Diac

Fig.(3) V-I characteristics.

Applications of AC voltage controllers:

AC voltage controllers can be employed in any application requiring variable magnitude

3 V. The most common applications include:
1. Heaters and welding machines.
2. Filament lamp dimmers.
3. Induction and universal motor speed control.
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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Soft-starters.
A simple triac control circuit for lamp dimmers is shown in Fig.(4) where a diac is
employed in the same circuit. A diac can be simply considered as a gateless triac designed
to break down at low voltages. When the capacitor "C" voltage reaches the diac break
down voltage, it will be discharged into the gate of the triac turning it ON. Adjustment of
the series variable resistance R determines the charge rate of the capacitor and hence the
phase angle delay.
Triac

Rf
Vs

3
Rv
100%
4

RL

Diac

C1
GND

Fig.(4) Circuit diagram.

Procedure:
1. Connect the circuit shown in Fig.(4) using the available modules.
2. Turn the supply on.
3. Use the oscilloscope to view voltage waveforms at each point in the circuit.
4. Draw these waveforms.
5. Vary the firing angle, and then measure the load voltage, current, and power.
6. Plot the measured values with the firing angle.
Exercises:
1. Ignoring transients, load resistance, and triac gate current (consider its branch as
an open circuit), Draw the waveforms of the output voltage , current and the voltage at
the capacitor C for the circuit shown in figure 3 when the triac is triggered at 90 and 270.
2. Derive a formula for the RMS value of the output voltage and current in terms of the firing
angle "".
3. Deduce the relationship between Rf, Rv, C, and .

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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. A diac with a breakdown voltage of 30V is used in a light dimming circuit as

shown in Fig.(3). If (Rf+Rv) is variable from 1k to 22k and C=47nF, Vs=220V.
i. What are the maximum and minimum firing delays?
ii. What is the controllable output power range with a 10 load resistor?
iii. Calculate the output power and the power factor of the supply.

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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 2: Inverters
Inverters are static devices used to convert fixed DC voltages to AC voltages which
are controllable in both magnitude and frequency. Remember that AC voltage controllers
described above produce variable magnitude AC voltages while there is no control over
frequency (output frequency is the same as the input). Inverters have been thoroughly
studied in the last year, so fewer details will be given here.
Objectives:

1. To study the difference in the harmonic content of the inverter output voltage for
different PWM techniques.
2. To study the effect of the inverter switching frequency on the harmonic spectrum of
the inverter output voltage.
3. To study the effect of the output voltage harmonic content on induction motors
torque response.
Theoretical Background:
Effect of PWM Technique:
Many PWM techniques for three-phase inverters have been reported in literature. The
simplest way to convert DC voltages to AC voltages is to use the square wave or six-step
mode of operation. In this mode, the inverter switches are controlled such that the output
voltages are square and phase-shifted by 120. The harmonic content of this technique is
sever and is intolerable in most applications.
The harmonic content of the inverter output voltage may be reduced by employing PWM
techniques such as:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Space vector PWM

Sinusoidal PWM.
Trapezoidal PWM.
Multiple-Pulse-Width modulation.

Remember from last year that the distortion factor and low order harmonics are
significantly reduced with sinusoidal and space vector PWM.
Effect of Switching Frequency:
PWM is generated by comparing a carrier signal (usually a triangular wave) with
frequency c to a reference signal with frequency r. The magnitude of the output voltage is
controlled by varying the ratio of the amplitude of the reference signal to the amplitude of
the carrier signal. The output frequency is equal to frequency of the reference signal. The
carrier signal frequency determines the transistor switching frequency. The Fourier
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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

analysis of the inverter output voltage can be shown to be of the following form:

Vo = fundamental +high frequency harmonics

(1)

The frequency of the output voltage harmonics is related to the carrier frequency with
reference signal frequency-related sidebands. The frequency of those harmonics can be
shown to be:

Harmonic spectrum = Mc Nr

(2)

Where M and N are integers such that M+N= odd integer. For example, the output
voltage will contain harmonics at c, c +2,c 4..... and at 2c ,2c 3,.....
depending on other factors such as the modulation index.
The amplitude of the harmonics, in general, diminishes with higher values of M and N.
With higher carrier frequency, the inverter line current will be well-filtered by the
leakage inductance of the motor driven by the inverter and will practically approach a sine
wave. On the other hand, however, high carrier frequency (=switching frequency)
increases the inverter switching losses. The selection of the switching frequency is thus a
trade-off between harmonic losses in the machine and switching losses in the inverter.
Effect of Harmonic Content on Motor Torque Response:
From the dynamic model of AC machines, the stator flux vector can be calculated
from:
= (us- is Rs) dt

(3)

Where us, is , and Rs are the machine stator voltage vector, current vector, and resistance
respectively. If the stator resistance is neglected, equation (3) becomes:
= us dt

(4)

Also the machine torque can be expressed as:

Te = X is

(5)

From equation (5), if both the stator flux and current are sinusoids, the torque will be
constant with time. If some harmonics are introduced into the waveforms of flux, current,
or both, the output torque will be time varying (pulsating). Torque pulsations affect the
low speed operation of the machine with non-smooth shaft movement (cogging) and the
high speed operation with higher machine vibration and acoustic noise.
Procedure:
First check the connection of the converter module as shown in Fig.(5).
Basic setting of the PWM control unit for this experiment:
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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Enter the "manual" input mode.

2. Via the display pushbutton

Line o: UNom= 230 V = nominal voltage

Line 2: fNom= 50Hz= corner frequency of the U/f characteristic
Line 5: flim= 100Hz
Line 9: Ustart= OV
Line b:Modulation = 42, 41,32,31,22,21,12,11
3. Display the three output voltages with respect to the negative pole of the link

voltage Uz: u1, u2, u3.

4. Plot the space vector diagram of the flux vector.
5. Change the modulation type and note the difference in the space vector diagram,

output voltages waveforms and write your comments

6. What are the strategies that can be employed to reduce the acoustic noise of inverterfed motors?

Fig.(5) Experiment setup.

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Cairo University
Power electronics Lab.
Faculty of Engineering
4th year
Elect. Power & machines Dept.
AC voltage control (PE1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Report (individual report):

Answer exercises of Part I in addition to your comments on the last part of the
experiment. The report is to be delivered within two weeks after the day of
experiment. Late reports will be ignored. All reports must be computer typed.
Handwritten reports will be refused. Reports are to be handled in the Power Electronics
Lab or in the mailbox.
References:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Bimal K. Bose, Modern Power Electronics and AC drives. Prentice Hall PTR, 2002.
Cyril W. Lander, Power Electronics. McGraw-Hill, 1993.
M. H. Rashid, Power Electronics: Circuits, devices, and applications. Prentice Hall,1993
Philips Semiconductors technical publications, Thyristors and Triacs - Ten Golden
Rules for Success in Your Application. Document number 9397 750 00812,1996.

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