

Instead of the inductor being supplied the pulsed DC output of the rectifier, in the pi filter it is supplied a waveform that is already smoothed by the first capacitor. The primary difference between a single stage LC filter and a pi filter is the inclusion of a smoothing capacitor prior to the inductor stage. Since an LC filter is comprised of a capacitor and inductor, the pi filter can also be thought of as a capacitor filter followed by an LC filter. In essence, it can be thought of as a multi-stage filter, with a capacitor filter stage followed by an inductor filter stage which is followed by another capacitor stage. Pi Rectifier Filter CircuitĪ pi filter circuit is constructed by using two capacitors and one inductor in a pi configuration. The components of these devices can be cheap, making this configuration exceptionally cost effective. One of the most common configurations uses a bridge rectifier combined with a pi filter and voltage regulator to generate a DC voltage that is stable enough to use in electronic circuits. Pi filters are one of the most commonly used rectifier filters because they output a high quality signal but are relatively simple and inexpensive. A high ripple factor indicates that the AC component within the rectifier output signal is large. This seems obvious because a pulsed signal does not bear much resemblance to a flat DC signal, but it is also reflected in properties like a high ripple factor. In comparison, real rectifiers produce a pulsed DC output that has relatively poor characteristics.

Pi filters are widely used because they do an excellent job of improving the output signal, improving both on simple L or C filters as well as on an LC filter with only one capacitor and one inductor. Note that the rectifier filter is essentially just a low pass filter in which all AC components are ideally filtered out. When the pi configuration is used as a high pass filter, the arrangement is reversed, featuring two inductors and one capacitor. When serving as a rectifier filter or low pass filter, the pi filter is made of two capacitors and one inductor.

Pi Filters Can Be Large What is a Pi Filter?Ī pi filter is a passive filter that uses a combination of capacitors and inductors.Capacitor Charge, Discharge and RC Time Constant Calculator.Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs).Capacitors and Capacitor Circuits Menu Toggle.Resistors and Resistor Circuits Menu Toggle.Introduction to DC Circuits Menu Toggle.Module 2: Fundamental Concepts Menu Toggle.Module 1: Introduction to Electrical Theory Menu Toggle.
