Rectifier simulation in Simulink - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Rectifier simulation

📖 Scenario: You are working on a simple electrical engineering project to simulate how a rectifier converts alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). This is useful in many devices that need steady DC power from AC sources.

🎯 Goal: Build a basic rectifier simulation in Simulink that takes an AC sine wave input and outputs the rectified DC waveform.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a sine wave source with amplitude 10 and frequency 50 Hz

Add a rectifier block using a Math Function block configured to output the absolute value

Connect the sine wave source to the rectifier block

Display the output waveform using a Scope block

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Rectifiers are used in power supplies to convert AC from the wall outlet into DC for electronic devices.

💼 Career

Understanding rectifier simulation is useful for electrical engineers and technicians working on power electronics and circuit design.

1

Create the AC sine wave source

In Simulink, add a Sine Wave block. Set its Amplitude parameter to 10 and its Frequency parameter to 50 Hz.

Simulink

% Add a Sine Wave block with Amplitude 10 and Frequency 50 Hz
% Your code here

Hint

Use add_block to add the Sine Wave block and set_param to set its parameters.

2

Add the rectifier block

Add a Math Function block to the model. Set its Operator parameter to abs to simulate the rectifier that outputs the absolute value of the input.

Simulink

% Add a Math Function block with Operator set to abs
% Your code here

Hint

The Math Function block can perform absolute value by setting its Operator to 'abs'.

3

Connect the blocks

Connect the output of the sine_wave block to the input of the rectifier block using add_line.

Simulink

% Connect sine_wave output to rectifier input
% Your code here

Hint

Use add_line with the source port 'sine_wave/1' and destination port 'rectifier/1'.

4

Add a Scope and display output

Add a Scope block to the model. Connect the output of the rectifier block to the input of the Scope block. Then run the simulation and display the scope window.

Simulink

% Add a Scope block, connect rectifier output to Scope input, run simulation, and open Scope
% Your code here

Hint

Use add_block to add the Scope, add_line to connect, then sim to run and open_system to display the Scope.