1

1

DC Chopper Regulators W3007-1B

Confidential. Copyright WUEKRO GmbH
Training & Didactic Systems
Experimental Manual
Power Electronics
DC Chopper Regulators
Order No. W3007-1B Edition 1. 2002
WUEKRO GmbH
All rights reserved. Reprint not permitted.
2
Technical data, order no. and quantities are a subject of alterations
All rights reserved
Copyright by WUEKRO GmbH
Wrzburg, 2002
Contact address:
WUEKRO GmbH
Hafenstr. 5
D - 97424 Schweinfurt
Germany
3
Contents Page
1. DC Chopper regulators 4
1.1 Introduction 4
1.2 Principle of operation of DC chopper regulators 5
1.3 Functional description of the thyristor DC chopper regulator 9
1.4 Functional description of the Darlington DC chopper regulator 13
2. Putting DC chopper regulators into service 17
2.1 Procedures 17
2.2 Thyristor DC chopper regulators: list of equipment 19
2.3 Measuring setup: Thyristor DC chopper regulator 20
2.4 Thyristor DC chopper regulators: list of equipment 22
2.5 Measuring setup: Darlington DC chopper regulator 23
3. Measurements on the thyristor chopper 25
3.1 Establishing the power characteristics of a thyristor DC chopper regulator 25
3.2 Measurements at various points on the thyristor DC chopper regulator 29
4. Measurements on the Darlington DC chopper regulator 33
4.1 Power characteristics of a Darlington DC chopper regulator 33
4.2 Measurements at various points on the Darlington DC chopper regulator 37
5. Solutions to the questions and exercises 1. 8.
Re. 1. DC chopper regulators
5.1 Answers to the thyristor chopper questions 3
Re. 1.3 Functional description of the thyristor DC chopper regulator
5.2 Answers to Darlington chopper regulator questions 6
Re. 1.4 Functional description of the Darlington DC chopper regulator
4
DC chopper regulators
1.1 Introduction
DC chopper regulators are primarily used for controlling the speed of DC machines.
The best-known type of DC chopper regulator is the Ward-Leonard set, where a mechanically driven
DC generator is controlled via its field winding. The disadvantages of the Ward-Leonard set are its
relatively poor efficiency, high initial costs and a limited correcting rate due to the exciter inductance's.
In the case of modern DC chopper regulators, the power from the DC system is supplied to the load in
chopped or switched via suitable switching devices. Thyristors and power transistors are can be used
for this purpose.
Unlike the switching of AC current by means of semiconductor valves, where the AC current, which
changes direction periodically, passes through zero after each half-wave, the DC circuit can be
interrupted only by a reverse voltage. which has to be generated by a switching device. For this
purpose, the semiconductor switching device requires a turn-off facility. A semiconductor switching
device in the DC circuit is therefore a feature of self-commutated converters.
The commutation voltage is supplied by an energy store (turn-off capacitor) of the converter or is
generated within the circuit by increasing the resistance of the converter to be turned off (power
transistor or GTO). The DC chopper regulator therefore belongs to the family of forced-commutated
converters.
5
1.2 Principle of operation of DC chopper regulators
A semiconductor switching device for DC circuits can not only be used for opening and closing the
circuit at any desired point in time. If it is turned on and off periodically at a defined switching
frequency, the power input of a load can be controlled or set from the DC voltage source.
Period T= constant, "on" time t
e
= variable:
This control method is referred to as pulse width modulation.
Another method is pulse frequency control, where the "on" time t
e
is constant, and the period T is
variable.
The following chapters refer exclusively to pulse-width modulation.
Ideal current and voltage characteristic of the DC chopper regulator
t
i
D
L
D
o
t
1
U
1
S
i
1
I 2
u
2
M
Figure 1.2.1
6
t
o
t
1
U
2AV
0
u
2
U
1
t
t
T
t
e a
I
1AV
i
D
i
D
i
D
i
D
i
1
i
1
i
1
i
1
I
2
0
i
t
Figure 1.2.2
If switch S is closed periodically at the instant t
o
and opened again at the instant t
1
, the current and
voltage characteristic will be as shown in Figure 1.2.2.
Pulse-shaped voltage blocks U
2

are generated on the load side. Their height corresponds to voltage
U
1
, and their width to turn-on time t
e
. During turn-off time t
a
, the current flows over free-wheeling
diode D.
Let us define the pulse control factor of the switch as
T
t
t t
t
e
a e
e
=
+
= .
The average DC voltage U
2aV
can be calculated from the pulse control factor and DC voltage U
1
a e
e
1 av 2
t t
t
U U
+
=
7
Assuming that current I
2
is completely smoothed, this results in the rectangular current blocks shown in
Figure 1.2.2. Current is drawn from the DC voltage source during turn-on time t
e
only. The average DC
current I
1aV
can be calculated from the pulse control factor and load current I
2
.
a e
e
2 av 1
t t
t
I I
+
=
It can therefore be seen that there is a constant DC voltage with "current blocks" on the DC voltage
source side, but voltage blocks and a constant DC current on the load side.
8
Questions and exercises
1. What do we need DC chopper regulators for?
2. Which kind of switching devices are suitable for DC chopper regulators?
3. Give a brief description of the basic principle of a DC chopper regulator with switch.
4. How do we define the pulse control factor ?
5. What is the difference between the voltage and current characteristics on the DC voltage
source side and load side?
9
1.3 Functional description of the thyristor DC chopper regulator
In this type of DC chopper regulator, a thyristor (V
1
) is used as the switching device. However, a
thyristor can only be turned on via its gate, and can only be brought into the non-conducting state by
briefly interrupting the current flow.
This is done by the turn-off circuit, consisting of turn-off capacitor C, turn-off thyristor V
2
, ring-around
inductance L
v
and diode V
4
.
The timing and physical phenomena occurring in the main and the auxiliary (turn-off) thyristors are
explained by the following diagrams.
i
L
U
1
i
1
i 2
U
2
C
t
t
1
o
v
1
v
3
v
2
v
4
v
3
M
L
v
u
v1 u
C
Figure 1.3.1
10
u
2
0 t
t
0
t
1
t
2
t c
U
1
U
1 u
2
u
2
U
2AV
0
i
t
0
u
c
t
0
u
v1
t
0
i
v1
t
0
i
c
t
2
I
i
1
i
1
v3
i
1AV
I
Figure 1.3.2
11
After applying the DC voltage source, the turn-off thyristor V
2
must be triggered before the main
thyristor V
1
is triggered for the first time. As a result, turn-off capacitor C is charged to voltage U
1
via
the load.
If main thyristor V
1
is triggered at instant t
0
, the energy stored in the turn-off capacitor C is loaded into
the ring-around inductance L
v
, which, in turn, reverses the capacitor charge when C is discharged.
The turn-off capacitor and ring-around inductance thus form a resonant circuit in which diode V
4
prevents the capacitor from discharging again.
Turn-off capacitor C now has the necessary polarity to apply a negative voltage to main thyristor V
1
following firing of turn-off thyristor V
2
at the instant t
1
. Current i
1
commutates from V
1
into the turn-off
circuit until the current in V
1
is chopped; the main thyristor is then again in the non-conducting state.
The time the capacitor voltage takes to reach zero is referred to as the hold-off interval t
c
. This time
must be longer than the main thyristor's critical hold-off interval, otherwise the thyristor would fire as the
anode voltage becomes positive even without receiving a firing pulse.
After the thyristor is turned off, the load current, which is maintained by inductance L, continues to flow
through the turn-off arm and reverses the charge of the turn-off capacitor.
At the instant t
2
,
the capacitor voltage becomes greater than U
1
, and the freewheeling diode becomes
conducting. The load current commutates from the turn-off arm into the freewheeling arm. The whole
process repeats when main thyristor V
1
is retriggered.
12
1. What is diode V
4
used for in the turn-off circuit?
2. Why must the turn-off thyristor be fired before switching the thyristor DC chopper regulator on?
3. What is the hold-off interval t
c
and what is the connection between it and the critical hold-off
interval t
q

of the main thyristor?
4. Why can't a thyristor DC chopper regulator have a pulse control factor of = 1?
13
1.4 Functional description of the Darlington DC chopper regulator
A Darlington transistor is used as the switching device in this type of DC chopper regulator. Unlike the
thyristor, the transistor can be turned on and off via its gate electrode. It is turned off by continuously
increasing the value of the switching resistor.
As far as the basic principles are concerned, an energy store is not needed to make the switching
device conducting. However, we use one here in order to limit the switching losses, which would
otherwise cause an unnecessarily temperature rise in the switch.
The timing and physical phenomena of the turn-on and turn-off cycles are explained by the following
diagrams, assuming a large smoothing inductance L to guarantee a constant DC current on the load
side.
L
U
1
i
1
i
c
C
t
1
v
1
v
2
i
v
1
R
B
t
0
i
2
T
U
2
M
u
T
u
C
Figure 1.4.1
14
t
u
2
0
0
i
t
0
u
T
t
0
u
c
t
0
i
c
t
U
2
U
2
t
2
t
1
t
0
U
2AV
I
1AV
I
2
i
v1
i
1
Figure 1.4.2
15
At the instant t
0
, switch T closes and applies input voltage U
1
to the series connection consisting of the
load and inductance L.
Up to the instant t
1
, U
2
= U
1
. At the same time, capacitor C, which was charged to voltage U
1
via diode
V
2
prior to instant t
0
, is discharged via resistor R
B
.
The energy stored in capacitor C is therefore converted into heat in resistor R
B
.
At the instant t
1
,

the resistance of

switch

T continuously increases via its gate electrode from the
conducting to the non-conducting state.
However, since the smoothing inductance maintains the current flow, switch T would have to convert
considerable losses into heat during the turn-off process
The instantaneous heat losses in switch T are, as we all know, i
2

R. From the instant t
1
, at which the
switching resistance is still approximately 0, to the instant t
2
, at which the load current commutates into
the freewheeling path V1, these losses increase to the value U
1
i
1
.
In order to lessen the load on the transistor during this time, energy store C is used. When switch T
increases its resistance, load current i now commutates into capacitor C via diode V
2
and charges the
capacitor until freewheeling diode V
1
becomes conducting and accepts the load current
Assuming a constant load current (large smoothing reactor L), the voltage across capacitor C therefore
rises linearly, with the following relationship applying to the voltage gradient versus time of capacitor C
and load current i:
C
i
=
t
Uc
Capacitor C is therefore rated to suit the maximum permissible load current i and the maximum turn-off
time of the transistor.
16
1. What are the functions of capacitor C?
2. How high would the instantaneous losses in switch T be without the R
B
/C circuitry just prior to
the instant at which the load current commutates into the freewheeling diode V
1
?
Maximum load current 5 A.
Maximum input voltage 320 V.
3. How high is the instantaneous current when switch T closes if the current in the freewheeling
path is 3 A and the resistance R
B
= 100 ?
Base your calculation on U
1
= 320 V.
17
2. Putting DC chopper regulators into service
2.1 Procedures
A number of special safety measures and conditions have to be observed when taking DC chopper
regulators into service:
Motors :
The DC motors used should be designed for a maximum armature voltage of 300 V.
Motors with thermal monitors should be used since a motor could be overloaded or even destroyed by
maloperation of the regulator.
Measuring instruments :
Since it is the average value over time that is of interest when measuring the current and voltage, only
integrating instruments should be used for this purposes, and preferably slow-response moving-coil
instruments or commercial digital instruments for DC voltages and currents.
Power supply of DC chopper regulators :
The DC chopper regulators require a DC voltage of up to 320 V and a maximum load current of 5 A
for the power section
The output of the DC voltage source must be free from leakage inductances and, if necessary, should
be provided with a smoothing capacitor.
The control section of the DC chopper regulator requires a DC voltage of 15V and up to 100 mA. The
type W3644-4B power supply unit meets these requirements.
18
To enable you to carry out the measurements described below with the necessary expertise
and apply the knowledge you have gained so far without endangering yourselves or others,
carefully read the following page with the ten most important safety measures to be observed
when working with DC chopper regulators, and always keep them in mind in all your practical
work in this connection:
WARNING!
1. Before taking the regulator into service, always read the accompanying operating instructions
2. Use only safety laboratory cables providing adequate protection against accidental contact!
3. Make sure all measuring equipment you use is fully functional and protected against accidental
contact.
4. Accidental contact with DC voltages is much more dangerous than with AC voltages. DC
voltages cause electrolytic decomposition phenomena in the human body whose products are
highly poisonous and, in addition to the electric shock, can cause serious impairment to health.
5. The following terminals can still carry dangerous voltages even if the motor is at standstill: The
power supply sockets, the input sockets and the actual motor terminals (armature and field
terminals).
6. The power supply unit's output is still live for up to 5 minutes after being disconnected from the
mains power system!
7. Make sure all equipment is dead before carrying out any circuit assembly work or making any
changes to the setup.!
8. Define a two-pole power switch S1 and turn it off after every measurement series.
9. The regulator controls rotating machines. Make sure the shaft and other moving parts are free
to rotate and are protected against accidental contact.
10. Always observe the general installation and safety regulations applying to the working with
laboratory equipment (VDE, DIN etc.).
The non-observance of these safety measures can result in death, severe physical injury or
serious damage to equipment or property!
19
2.2 Thyristor DC chopper regulators: list of equipment
Item Qty. Description Order No. Remarks
1 1 Power supply unit W3644-4B U
2 1 Thyristor DC chopper regulator W3644-4C Q1
3 1 DC motor W3365-5C M1
4 1 Magnetic powder brake W3360-1E B1
5 1 Mounting rack W3360-8A R1
6 3 Voltage indicator W3414-4E P1/P2/P3
7 2 Current indicator W3411-4A P4/P5
8 1 2-pole OFF switch W3211-4B S1
9 1 Field exciter W3360-1M E1
10 Connecting cables W3904
11 1 Oscilloscope with differential inputs
Options:
11a 1 Oscilloscope with grounded measuring inputs
11b 1 Isolating transformer 1.5 kVA W3642-4S
20
2.3 Measuring setup: Thyristor DC chopper regulator
This chapter will help you to gain practical experience with the thyristor DC chopper regulator.
Figure 2.3.1 shows the basic input and load connections, together with a front view of the thyristor DC
chopper regulator.
Figure 2.3.1 Front view of the thyristor DC chopper regulator
You require a number of devices for the measurement setup; these are listed on page 18.
Assemble the equipment as shown in the schematic circuit diagram, Figure 2.3.2 on page 21.
21
Figure 2.3.2
Schematic circuit diagram of the experimental setup - Thyristor DC chopper regulator
22
2.4 Thyristor DC chopper regulators: List of equipment
Item Qty. Description Order No. Remarks
1 1 Power supply unit W3644-4B U
2 1 Darlington DC chopper reg. W3644-4D Q1
3 1 DC motor W3365-5C M1
4 1 Magnetic powder brake W3360-1E B1
5 1 Mounting rack W3360-8A R1
6 3 Voltage indicator W3414-4E P1/P2/P3
7 2 Current indicator W3411-4A P4/P5
8 1 2-pole OFF switch W3211-4B S1
9 1 Field exciter W3360-1M E1
10 Connecting cables W3904
11 1 Oscilloscope with differential inputs
Options:
11a 1 Oscilloscope with grounded measuring inputs
11b 1 Isolating transformer 1.5 kVA W3642-4S
23
2.5 Measuring setup: Darlington DC chopper regulator
This chapter will help you to gain practical experience with the Darlington DC chopper regulator.
Fig 2.5.1 shows the basic input and load connections, together with a front view of the Darlington DC
chopper regulator.
Figure 2.5.1 Front view of the Darlington DC chopper regulator
You require a number of devices for the measurement setup; these are listed on page 21.
Assemble the equipment as shown in the schematic circuit diagram, Figure 2.5.2 on page 25.
24
Figure 2.5.2
Schematic circuit diagram of the experimental setup - Darlington DC chopper regulator
25
3. Measurements on the thyristor chopper
3.1 Establishing the power characteristics of a thyristor DC chopper regulator
Once you have assembled the measuring setup as per the schematic circuit diagram (Figure 2.3.2),
proceed as follows:
Set the field exciter E
1
to its minimum value and switch it on.
Then set the field voltage to the value shown on the rating plate of the motor (e.g. 150 V).
Switch brake B
1
on, put the mode selector to control ( ) and set a torque of 1.2 Nm with the
setpoint potentiometer.
Put the switch on the thyristor chopper regulator to Internal and set the control potentiometer to MIN.
Connect the oscilloscope to the isolated measuring inputs V
1
and V
2
(vertical 0.5 V/cm with 10 : 1
scaler, horizontal 0.5 ms/cm). Then close S
1
. Trigger the channel to V
1
and set the firing pulse V
1
to
the left side of the oscilloscope grid; set the next firing pulse V
1
to the right-hand side of the grid by
turning the setting knob of the time base.
You now have 10 increments of the grid between two successive firing pulses of V
1
( approx. 5 ms)
t
e
t
a
T
0 5 10
Channel v1
Channell v2`
Figure 3.1.1
Now make a comparison between the calculated and measured currents and voltages by carrying out
a number of measurements. To do this, set turn-off pulse V
2
to one grid division behind firing pulse V
1
with the control potentiometer on the regulator .(see Figure 3.1.1). This corresponds to a pulse control
factor
a e
e
t t
t
+
of 0.1.
Now enter the current and voltage values of the input and output sides in the following Table 3.1.2. The
turn-off pulse is then always displaced by one grid division to the right and all values are measured and
recorded.
26
Once you have entered all the measured values in Table 3.1.2, transfer the results to diagram 3.1.3.
Plot curves (one each) for the input power (measured), output power (measured) and motor power.
When you do this, you will notice that, in the case of small pulse control factors (= low motor voltage),
there are considerable deviations between the input and output powers and that the two curves
approach each other more and more with increasing pulse control factor.
You will also observe that the values in the measured value table also deviate from the calculated
values for input current and output voltage.
27
Table 3.1.2
28
Diagram 3.1.3
29
3.2 Measurements at various points on the thyristor DC chopper regulator
Now use the oscilloscope to take measurements at various points on the thyristor DC chopper
regulator and verify your measurements by comparing them with representative current and voltage
waveforms.
Before you start taking measurements with the oscilloscope, however, there are a few points you
should note:
1. In the measuring circuit shown on page 21, the power system AC voltage is rectified direct, i.e.
there is no galvanic isolation from the power system.
2. You must therefore never carry out measurements in the power section using an oscilloscope
with grounded measuring inputs!
3. For taking measurements in the power section, it is best to use an oscilloscope with differential
inputs or instrument amplifiers (W3410-4B).
4. You can also operate power supply unit W3644-4B with an isolating transformer whose rating
corresponds to the load connected to the thyristor DC chopper regulator.
In this case, you can also take measurements using an oscilloscope with grounded measuring
inputs, but you must make sure that the grounded measuring inputs are always at the same
potential
The measuring setup shown on page 24 can be used unchanged for taking measurements with the
oscilloscope.
Set the brake again to 1.2 Nm with the control potentiometer and connect the two probes of your
oscilloscope as shown in Figure 3.2.1.
Position the two zero lines of your measuring channels exactly one above the other.
Set the oscilloscope's time base to 1 ms/cm and the sensitivity of the Y channels to 200 mV/cm. The
measuring resistors R
m
have a value of 0.1, and the effective value of the current is therefore
cm
A 2
1 . 0 cm
mV 200
=

Set the control potentiometer on the DC chopper to Min and close switch S
1
.
30
Turn the control potentiometer approximately into the middle position. The two component currents,
the one that passes through main thyristor V
1
and the one that passes through freewheeling diode V
3
,
appear on the screen.
Figure 3.2.1 Measuring points for the oscilloscope
31
Trigger your oscilloscope until the following display appears.
i
v
1
i
v
3
Figure 3.2.2 Oscillogram of the currents
1. The current waveforms measured deviate appreciably from the ideal waveform
described in the section entitled "Principle of Operation of DC Chopper Regulators". The
rectangular current blocks you were introduced to in the introductory section assume a large
smoothing inductance. Although smoothing inductances have the effect of producing an almost
constant DC current, they have the disadvantage of becoming larger, heavier and more
expensive the greater the inductance becomes. Add to this the fact that the possible correcting
rate decreases with increasing inductance.
As rule, the smoothing inductance chosen is such that the current never becomes intermittent
inside the working range of the motor
2. The two spikes in the oscillogram represent the current of the ring-around phenomenon in the
turn-off circuit. We can clearly make out a current half-sine-wave.
The current maximum is reached when the turn-off capacitor voltage is zero. The energy
originally stored in the turn-off capacitor is stored at this instant in the ring-around inductance
L
v
32
3. There is an intermittent gap to be observed in the current between i
V1

and i
V3
. This is the time
during which the turn-off arm conducts the load current. The latter does not cause a voltage
drop across either of the two measuring resistances, and an intermittent gap of about 0.4 ms
therefore appears in the oscillogram.
During this time, however, the DC voltage source must supply the current for reversing the
polarity of the turn-off capacitor, which is tantamount to an effective increase in the on" time by
exactly this time.
This is also the reason for the measured values deviating from those calculated.
4. The charge-reversal current of the turn-off capacitor flows both on the DC voltage source side
and the load side. The DC voltage on the DC voltage source side has the constant valueU
1
,
while only the mean value of the voltage is on the load side. side. This means that the
measurement method applied here to determine the average value for current and voltage on
the load side may well be correct, but is not permissible for measuring the power by the
multiplication of the two average values.
If we wanted to measure the power on the load side correctly, we would always have to multiply the
instantaneous values of current and voltage and display the result in an integrating measuring
instrument, i.e. we would have to use a genuine kW meter to measure the output power of the thyristor
DC chopper regulator exactly.
It can be clearly seen from the diagram that the "deviations" of the input power and output power
diminish the closer the output voltage gets to the input voltage.
33
4. Measurements on the Darlington DC chopper regulator
4.1 Power characteristics of a Darlington DC chopper regulator
Once you have assembled the measuring setup as per the schematic circuit diagram (Figure 2.5.2),
proceed as follows:
Set the field exciter E
1
to its minimum value and switch it on.
Then set the field voltage to the value shown on the rating plate of the motor (e.g. 150 V).
Switch brake B
1
on, put the mode selector to Control ( ) and set a torque of 1.2 Nm with the
setpoint potentiometer.
Put the switch on the thyristor chopper regulator to Internal and set the control potentiometer to MIN.
Connect the oscilloscope to the isolated measuring output V (vertical 0.5 V/cm with 10:1 scaler,
horizontal 50 s/cm). Then close S
1
. Turn the control potentiometer on the Darlington DC chopper
regulator clockwise until you can see a narrow pulse at the right-hand side of the oscilloscope screen.
Position the first positive-going edge of the pulse to the right-hand side of the oscilloscope grid.
Position the next positive-going edge with the knob of the time base to the right-hand side of the grid.
You now have ten grid divisions between two positive-going edges of the measuring pulse
( ca. 500 s).
Now make a comparison between the calculated and measured currents and voltages by carrying out
a number of measurements.
To do this, position the negative-going (trailing) edge of the gate pulse one grid dimension behind the
first positive-going edge, using the control potentiometer on the DC chopper. This corresponds to a
pulse control factor
a e
e
t t
t
+
of 0.1.
t
e
t
a
T
0 5 10
Figure 4.1.1
34
Now enter the current and voltage values of the input and output sides in the following Table 4.1.2.
The negative-going edge of the gate pulse is then always displaced by one grid division to the right and
all values are measured and recorded.
Once you have entered all the measured values in Table 4.1.2, transfer the results to diagram 4.1.3.
Plot curves (one each) for the input power (measured), output power (measured) and motor power.
When you do this, you will notice that, in the case of small pulse control factors (= low motor voltage),
there are considerable deviations between the values you have measured and the values calculated
from them.
35
Table 4.1.2
36
Diagram 4.1.3
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.6
0.5
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
te
te+ta
= =
Power [VA]
25 50 75 100 125 150
37
4.2 Measurements at various points on the Darlington DC chopper regulator
Now use the oscilloscope to take measurements at various points on the thyristor DC chopper
regulator and verify your measurements by comparing with typical current and voltage curves.
Before you start taking measurements with the oscilloscope, however, there are a few points you
should note:
1. In the measuring circuit shown on page 24, the power system AC voltage is rectified direct, i.e.
there is no galvanic isolation from the power system.
2. You must therefore never carry out measurements in the power section using an oscilloscope
with grounded measuring inputs!
3. For taking measurements in the power section, it is best to use an oscilloscope with differential
inputs or instrument amplifiers (W3410-4B).
4. You can also operate power supply unit W3644-4B with an isolating transformer whose rating
corresponds to the load connected to the thyristor DC chopper regulator.
In this case, you can also take measurements using an oscilloscope with grounded measuring
inputs, but you must make sure that the grounded measuring inputs are always at the same
potential
The measuring setup shown on page 24 can be used unchanged for taking measurements with the
oscilloscope.
Set the brake again to 1.2 Nm with the control potentiometer and connect the two probes of your
oscilloscope as shown in Figure 4.2.1.
Position the two zero lines of your measuring channels exactly one above the other.
Set the oscilloscope's time base to 0.1 ms/cm and the sensitivity of the Y channels to 50 mV/cm. The
measuring resistors R
m
have a value of 0.1, and the effective value of the current is therefore
cm
A 5 . 0
1 . 0 cm
mV 50
=

Set the control potentiometer on the DC chopper to Min and close switch S
1
.
Turn the control potentiometer approximately into the middle position. The two component currents,
the one that passes through main Darlington transistor T and the one that passes through freewheeling
diode V
1
, appear on the screen.
38
Figure 4.2.1 Measuring points for the oscilloscope
39
Trigger your oscilloscope until the following display appears.
i
T
i
v1
i
c
0
Diagram 4.2.2 Oscillogram of the currents
We can learn the following from this oscillogram:
1. The current waveform coincides relatively well with the ideal waveform described in the section
entitled "Principle of Operation of DC Chopper Regulators".
2. We observe a slight knee in the curve at the transition from i
T
to i
V1
. This is the instant at which
the load current commutates into capacitor C via diode V
2
.
Within this time (approx. 15 ), capacitor C is charged to input voltage U
1
; the

input side must
supply the necessary current for this. From the measurement point of view, this is tantamount
to an increase in the "on" time, and also explains the deviation between the calculated values
for input current and output voltage and the values measured.
40
3. As long as the Darlington transistor T is turned on and off, there is always be a difference of
about 4 W to be observed in the table and/or diagram between the input and output powers
measured.
As long as capacitor C is charged, the more or less constant load current, multiplied with the
constant input voltage U
1
, will flow. The constant load current causes linear charging of the
capacitor and the actual power output is the sum of the instantaneous values of load current
multiplied with the difference between U
1
and U
C
. Consequently, it is only half as high
(approx. 2 W).
The other half of this energy is converted into heat in resistor RB when T becomes conducting.
This power (loss) is not taken into account in the measurements.
4. If transistor T is continuously turned on ( = 1), the input power is practically equal to the output
power since no more switching losses occur.

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DC Chopper Regulators W3007-1B

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