EEK361 Power Electronics 2014/2015

Prepared by Dr. Shahid Iqbal

1

Experiment 1

SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR) SWITCH


A. OBJECTIVES:

1) To demonstrate a practical go/no-go method of testing an SCR with a multimeter
2) To study the turn-on/turn-off states of the SCR
3) To study the effects of gate current on SCR and determine the minimum holding current
to keep the SCR conducting


B. MATERIALS REQUIRED:

a) Equipment
1. DC Power Supply (variable 0 to 15V) 1
2. Digital multimeter 1
3. Dual channel oscilloscope 1
4. Breadboard 1
b) Electronic components
1. SCR: C106D (could be different model) 1
2. Single turn potentiometer (linear): 100k or 2 x 50k 1
3. Resistor: 10/0.25W 1
4. Resistor: 100/0.25W 1
5. Resistor: 1k/0.25W 2
6. Resistor: 2k/0.25W 1
7. Resistor: 10k/0.25W 1
8. Resistor: 22k/0.25W 1
9. Resistor: 1M/0.25W 2
10. Resistor: 100/2W 1



C. EXPERIMENT

Experimental effort evaluation
Student must show multimeter reading, oscilloscope display, etc to lab experiment supervisor
before proceeding to the next section. The experimental effort evaluation is performed within
3-hour lab session only.



Test your SCR before starting the SCR experiments

Section 1: Testing an SCR with a digital multimeter in diode test mode



EEK361 Power Electronics 2014/2015


Prepared by Dr. Shahid Iqbal
2
Procedures:
1) Connect the circuit as shown in Fig-1.
2) Set the multimeter in DIODE TEST MODE.
3) Set the position of the switches S1 and S2 as indicated in sequence no.1 in Table 1.
Record the meter reading for each sequential setting of the switches as shown in Table 1.
Meter reading (in diode test mode): A 3- or 4-digit number means the device is
conducting current with voltage drops in V or mV (depended on meter used). A 1
displayed at the left means the device is not conducting current.
4) Confirm your results in table 1 by repeating step 3).

Results:

Table 1






Note: You will get wrong results if you do not follow the experimental sequences.

Questions:
i) Compare the measured readings in Table 1 and briefly explain how the observations of
these readings relate to the conduction states of the SCR.


Section 2: Basic operation of an SCR

Results:
Table 2





Procedures:

1) Connect the circuit shown in Fig-2.
2) Set the position of the switches S1 and S2 as indicated in sequence no.1 in Table 2 and
then apply power to the circuit. Record the readings of V
GK
and V
AK
and indicate the
states of the SCR for each sequential setting as in Table 2.
3) Confirm your results in table 2 by repeating step 2).
Note: You will get wrong results if you do not follow the experimental sequences.

Questions:
i) Before firing (triggering), what is the V
AK
? Give reason to support your answer.
ii) What is the V
AK
when the SCR is conducting? Give reason to support your answer.


Fig-1: Go/no-go testing of SCR
A
K
G
Multimeter
+
-
S1
1
S2
2
S1 S2
X
close Y
X
close
close
X open
State Sequence No.
1
2
3
4
5
V
GK
/V V
AK
/V
X close
S1 S2
close
close close
close
open
open
open open
reading Sequence No.
1
2
3
4
state
Fig-2: Test circuit of an SCR
X
Y
S1
V
AA
=12V
R
A
=22k
R
G
=10k
A
K
G +
V
AK

-
+
V
GK

-
S2
R
L
=100/2W
R
G
=1k

EEK361 Power Electronics 2014/2015


Prepared by Dr. Shahid Iqbal
3


Section 3: Current control of an SCR















Section 3.1 Gate Current Control

Procedures:
1) Remove power supply and modify the circuit in Fig-2 as shown in Fig-3(a).
2) Set the switch S1 at position X and then apply power to the circuit. Record the voltage
V
GK
and V
AK
.
3) Move Switch S1 to position Y. Record V
GK
and V
AK
.
4) Turn-off the SCR and repeat step 2) and 3) to confirm your results.
Results:
Step 2) V
GK
= ________ , V
AK
= ________
Step 3) V
GK
= ________ , V
AK
= ________
Questions:
i) What is the current flowing through the gate (I
G
) in step 2)? Is the SCR on or off? Why?
ii) What is the current flowing through the gate (I
G
) in step 3)? Is the SCR on or off? Why?



Section 3.2 Holding Current Control

Procedures:
1) Remove the power supply and modify the circuit in Fig-3(a) as shown in Fig-3(b).
2) Set the wipers of the potentiometers R
H
so that the resistance is 0.
3) Ensure that the switch is opened.
4) Make firm connections to the multimeter and to the CH1 as shown in Fig-3(b).
5) Set the multimeter in DC 2V range and the oscilloscope as given below.

Caution to the oscilloscope: Make sure the INTENSITY of the displayed waveforms is not
too high, which can burn the screen material of the oscilloscope.
Before start this section experiment, check your voltage probes and oscilloscope.
Fig-3: Current control of an SCR, (a) gate current control, (b) holding current control
(a)
R
A
=
2 x 1M
I
G

X
Y
S1
V
AA
=12V
R
B
=
22k
A
K
G
+
V
AK

- +
V
GK

-
R
L
=100/2W
R
G
=1k
R
L
=2k
R
H
=2 x 50k
or 100k
(b)
I
A

S1
V
AA
=12V
R
B
=
22k
A
K
G
+
V
AK

-
+
V
RS

-
R
S
=100/
0.25W
Multimeter
+

-
Connected to CH1
of oscilloscope
R
G
=1k

EEK361 Power Electronics 2014/2015


Prepared by Dr. Shahid Iqbal
4
Oscilloscope settings: Set CH1 knob to 0.1V/div, AC/GND/DC switch to DC, CH1 0V
position at the lowest major grid. Note that the oscilloscope needs to be on for 5 10 minutes
(warming up time) before setting the position of 0V.
Make sure the VARIABLE knobs for CH1 and time base at the CAL positions (means using
oscilloscopes calibrations).

6) Apply power supply to the circuit and momentarily close the switch S1 and then open it
again. Record the voltage V
AK
and V
RS
in Table 3.
7) Slowly adjust R
H
and record V
AK
and V
RS
in Table 3 with V
AK
change (V
AK
) at
approximately 0.02V (Note: V
AK
will decrease and then increase again). The record ends
when the reading in V
AK
suddenly jumps to ~12V (over-range for DC 2V range).

Results:

Table 3



(V
AK
~ 0.02V)
Note: A disconnection and then connection of multimeter or oscilloscope probes during
voltage measurement will affect the precision result for determining the threshold
current.

Questions:
i) Plot a graph I
A
versus V
AK
, where
S
RS
A
R
V
I . Comment on your graph.
ii) From the graph, determine the holding current.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lab report format, evaluation and submission
The report should consists of
A. Objectives,
B. Materials Required
C. Introduction
1. Introduction of SCR,
2. Operation of SCR,
3. Current-Voltage Characteristics of SCR
D. Experiment procedure, Results and answers for all the questions (Please write down
the corresponding step or procedure number as the identification of your answer in
appropriate order),
E. Discussion, and Conclusion.

Duration of lab report submission: not more than 7 days after the date of your experiment
Lab report submitted to: the lab staff of power electronics experiment
Penalty for the late submission: deduct 1 mark
V
AK
/V

V
RS
/V