A Mathematical Theory of Full-wave Rectification

The results of a systematic asymptotic analysis of two basicfull-wave rectifier circuits are presented in this paper. Thephysical circuits are modelled by two systems of nonlinear differentialequations which are both singularly perturbed in the limit RC.Here is the angular frequency of the source, R is the resistanceof the load, and C is the capacitance of the circuit. The methodof multiple scales is used to construct the asymptotic behaviourof the solutions as RC. The results contain transient, ripple,and steady-state information. The latter two components simplifyand yield the standard results when the diodes' forward impedanceis small. The analysis of more complicated full-wave rectifiersfollows from the procedure described.