AC Meter

AC meter
• Several types of meter movements may be used to measure alternating current or voltage.
• The five principal meter movements used in ac instruments are listed in Table 3-1.
D'ARSONVAL METER MOVEMENT USED WITH HALF-WAVE RECTIFICATION
• In previous Chapter we discussed the measurement of direct current and voltage, as well as resistance
measurements, using the d'Arsonval meter movement which is a dc-responding device.
• In this chapter we will discover that we can use the same d’Arsonval meter movement to measure
alternatinq current and voltage.
• In order to measure alternating current with the d'Arsonval meter movement, we must first
rectify the alternating current by use of a diode rectifier to produce unidirectional current flow.
• Several types of rectifiers are selected, such as a copper oxide rectifier, a vacuum diode, or a
semiconductor or "crystal" diode.
• the sensitivity of a dc voltmeter is
(2.8)
FIGURE 3-1 Dc voltmeter circuit modified to measure ac voltage,
• Fig, 3-1, The forward-biased diode will have no effect on the operation of the circuit if we assume an
ideal diode.
• Now suppose we replace the 10-V dc input with a 10-V rms (rootmean- square) sine-wave input.
• The voltage across the meter movement is just the positive half-cycle of the sine wave because of the
rectifying action of the diode, The peak value of the 10-V rms sine wave is
3.1
• The dc meter movement will respond to the average value of the ac sine wave
where the average, or dc value, is equal to 0.318 times the peak value, or
• This is sometimes written as
• For example, if the output voltage from a half-wave rectifier is 10 V, a dc voltmeter will provide an
indication of approximately 4.5 V.
• Therefore, we can see that the pointer that deflected full scale when a 10-V dc signal was applied
deflects to only 4.5 V when we apply a 10-V rms sinusoidal ac waveform.
• This means that the ac voltmeter is not as sensitive as the dc voltmeter. In fact, an ac voltmeter
using half-wave rectification is only approximately 45% as sensitive as a dc voltmeter.
• Actually, the circuit would probably be designed for full-scale deflection with a 10-V rms
alternating current applied, which means the multiplier resistor would be only 45% of the
value of the multiplier resistor for a 10-V dc voltmeter.
• Since we have seen that the equivalent dc voltage is equal to 45% of the rms value of the
ac voltage, we can express this in the form of an equation for computing the value of the
multiplier resistor,
3.2
We can infer from Eq. 3-2, for a half-wave rectifier, that
Sac= 0.45dc 3.3a

Compute the value of the multiplier resistor for a 10-V rms ac range on the
voltmeter shown in Fig. 3-2 using
(a) Equation 2-8.

(b) Equation 3-3a.
(c) Equation 3-2.
Sac= 0.45dc
We can approach the problem in several ways, Consider the following.
(a) We can first find the sensitivity of the meter movement
Multiplying the dc sensitivity by the dc range gives us the total resistance, from which we
subtract the resistance of the meter movement as
(b) We may also choose to start by finding the ac sensitivity for a half-wave
rectifier:
Then we can say

(c) If we have no interest in the sensitivity, we can use Eq. 3-2:
• Commercially produced ac voltmeters that use half-wave rectification also have an additional
diode and a shunt as shown in Fig. 3-3.
• This double-diode arrangement in a single package is generally called an instrument rectifier.
The additional diode D2 is reverse-biased on the positive half-cycle and has virtually no effect
on the behavior of the circuit.
• In the negative half-cycle, D2 is forward-biased and provides an alternate path for reverse-
biased leakage current that would normally flow though the meter movement and diode 0, .
The purpose of the shunt resistor Rsh is to increase the current flow through D1, during the
positive half-cycle so that the diode is operating in a more linear portion of its characteristic
curve.
• Although this shunt resistor improves the linearity of the meter on its low-voltage ac ranges, it
also further reduces the ac sensitivity.
FIGURE 3-3 Half-wave rectification

using an instrument rectifier and a
shunt resistor for improved linearity,
Example
In the half-wave rectifier shown in Fig, 3-4, diodes D1, and D2 have an average forward resistance
of 50  and are assumed to have an infinite resistance in the reverse direction. Calculate the
following.
(a) The value of the multiplier Rs .
(b) The ac sensitivity.
(c) The equivalent dc sensitivity.
FIGURE 3-4 Half-wave rectifier with shunt resistor

(a) The value of the multiplier Rs The total resistance is made up of
several separate resistances and is
computed as
The total resistance of the meter circuit is Therefore, we can solve for Rs as
(c) The equivalent dc sensitivity.

D'ARSONVAL METER MOVEMENT USED WITH FULL-WAVE RECTIFICATION
• Frequently, it is more desirable to use a full-wave rather than a half-wave rectifier in ac voltmeters because of
the higher sensitivity rating.
• The most frequently used circuit for full-wave rectification is the bridge-type rectifier shown in Fig. 3-6.
• During the positive half-cycle, current flows through diode D2 , through the meter movement from positive to
negative, and through diode D3 .
• The polarities in circles on the transformer secondary are for the positive halfcycle.
• Since current flows through the meter movement on both half-cycles, we can expect the deflection of the
pointer to be greater than with the half-wave rectifier, which allows current to flow only on every other
halfcycle; if the deflection remains the same, the instrument using full-wave rectification will have a greater
sensitivity.
FIGURE 3-6 Full-wave bridge

rectifier used in an ac voltmeter
circuit.
Consider the circuit shown in Fig. 3-7.
The peak value of the The average, or dc value Alternatively. this can
10-V rrns signal is of the pulsating sine be computed as
computed as with the wave is
half-wave rectifier as
• Therefore, we can see that the 10-V rms voltage is equivalent to 9 Vdc.
• When full-wave rectification is used. the pointer will deflect to 90% of full scale.
• This means an ac voltmeter using full-wave rectification has a sensitivity equal to 90% of the dc
sensitivity, or it has twice the sensitivity of a circuit using half-wave rectification.
• As with the half-wave rectifier, the circuit would be designed for full-scale deflection, which
means the value of the multiplier resistor would be only 90% of the value for a 1O-V dc
voltmeter.
• We may write this for a full-wave rectifier as
Sac= 0.9dc
Example Compute the value of the multiplier resistor for a 10-V rms ac range on the voltmeter in Fig. 3-8.
FIGURE 3-8 Ac voltmeter circuit using full-wave rectification

a) The dc sensitivity is
b) The ac sensitivity is 90% of the dc sensitivity:
c) The multiplier resistor is therefore found to equal

Example Each diode in the full-wave rectifier circuit shown in Fig. 3-9 has an average forward resistance
of 50  and is assumed to have an infinite resistance in the reverse direction. Calculate the
following.
(a) The value of the multiplier Rs .
(c) The equivalent de sensitivity.
FIGURE 3-9 Ac voltmeter circuit using full-wave rectification and shunt.

(a) We begin by computing the shunt current and the total
current, The total resistance of the meter
circuit can now be computed as
and
The equivalent dc voltage is computed as

(b) The ac sensitivity is computed as
(c) The dc sensitivity is computed as
or alternatively as
• Take note that voltmeters using half-wave or full-wave rectification are suitable for
measuring only sinusoidal ac voltages.
• In addition, the equations waveforms such as square, triangular, and sawtooth waves.

AC Meter

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AC meter

• the sensitivity of a dc voltmeter is

• This is sometimes written as

We can infer from Eq. 3-2, for a half-wave rectifier, that

Sac= 0.45dc 3.3a

(a) Equation 2-8.

Then we can say

FIGURE 3-3 Half-wave rectification

FIGURE 3-4 Half-wave rectifier with shunt resistor

(c) The equivalent dc sensitivity.

FIGURE 3-6 Full-wave bridge

FIGURE 3-8 Ac voltmeter circuit using full-wave rectification

b) The ac sensitivity is 90% of the dc sensitivity:

c) The multiplier resistor is therefore found to equal

FIGURE 3-9 Ac voltmeter circuit using full-wave rectification and shunt.

The equivalent dc voltage is computed as

(c) The dc sensitivity is computed as

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