ECE 445 Analysis and Design of Power Electronic Circuits Fall 2002

Sample Midterm 1

Problem 1
Consider the LC circuit shown in Figure 1 with vs (t) = (t). Assume that the initial conditions (just before
the impulse appears) for the inductor current and capacitor voltage are iL (0 ) = 0 and vC (0 ) = 0.

a. What are the units of ?

b. Given that vs (t) is an impulsive source, what are iL (0+ ) and vC (0+ )?

c. Using iL (0+ ) and vC (0+ ) from part b., calculate vC (t) and iL (t) for t 0+ .
PSfrag replacements
d. Sketch vC (t) and iL (t) and label all important time, voltage and current values.
R

is
L

+
ic iL
(t) + vC
C
S

Figure 1: A lossless LC circuit excited by an impulsive voltage source.

Problem 2
Consider the LCD circuit shown in Figure 2 with a dc voltage source Vs . Assume that the diode D is ideal
and the switch is closed at t = 0. Assume that the initial conditions (just before the switch is closed) for the
inductor current and capacitor voltage are iL (0 ) = 0 and vC (0 ) = 0.

a. Find iL (0+ ) and vC (0+ ).

b. Find and sketch vC (t) and iL (t) for t 0.

PSfrag
c. How muchreplacements
energy did the voltage source deliver from t = 0 to t = ?

d. How much energy is stored

R in the inductor and capacitor at t = 0? How about at t = ?

is D

ic L
S iL +
Vs + vC
C

Figure 2: A dc-excited LC circuit with an ideal diode.

V. Caliskan 1 October 3, 2002

ECE 445 Analysis and Design of Power Electronic Circuits Fall 2002
Sample Midterm 1

Problem 3
Consider the RC circuit shown in Figure 3 with a pulsed voltage source vs (t). The voltage source vs (t) has
magnitude Vs and pulse width T . Assume that the pulse width is much, much smaller than the circuit time
constant (T RC). The initial capacitor voltage before the pulse occurs is v C (0 ) = 0.
a. Calculate
PSfrag and sketch vC (t) assuming T RC.
replacements
b. How much energy is stored in the capacitor at t = ?

vs (t) R

Vs T RC +
vs (t) + vC C


t
T

Figure 3: A pulsed voltage source driving and RC circuit.

Problem 4
Consider the current id (t) shown in Figure 4. Note that the time points are just the t values divided by .
For example, /, ( )/, etc.

a. Calculate the Fourier Series for the current id (t). In other words, determine the coefficients a0 , an and
bn of the Fourier Series representation for id (t) given by

X

id (t) = a0 + [an cos(nt) + bn sin(nt)]
n=1

b. How do the coefficients a0 , an and bn change as 0?

PSfrag replacements id (t)

Id

+ 2
t
2

Id

Figure 4: Current waveform id (t).

V. Caliskan 2 October 3, 2002

 ECE 445 Analysis and Design of Power Electronic Circuits Fall 2002
Sample Midterm 1
PSfrag replacements
Problem 5
Consider the phase-controlled rectifier with the gate current waveform for the thyristor as shown in Figure 5.
The firing (delay) angle can vary from 0 to .

a. Sketch the output voltage vd (t) and determine its average value hvd i.

b. Plot the control characteristics of the phase-controlled rectifier, hvd i vs. .

c. Can this phase-controlled rectifier operate in inversion (or inverter mode)? In other words, can this
converter produce a negative hvd i for some .
D3
D4
Lc i T1
s
iG1
+ +
vs iG1 vd Id
D1
t
2 2 +

Figure 5: Phase-controlled rectifier with constant-current load Id .

PSfrag replacements
Problem 6
Consider the rectifier with a lossless network N as shown in Figure 6.

a. If the source voltage viss (t) = 170 sin(377t) and source current is (t) = 3 sin(754t), how much average
vs load?
power is delivered to the

b. If the source voltage vs (t) = 170 sin(377t) and source current is (t) = 3 cos(377t), how much average
power is delivered to the load? What is the power factor of the source in this case?

+ is (t)
2 +
+ Lossless
vs (t) Network Load
N
t

2

Figure 6: Lossless network N with source voltage vs supplying power to a load.

V. Caliskan 3 October 3, 2002