ABSTRACT
In many practical applications the waveforms of voltage and current are not purely sinusoidal and instead comprise a fundamental component together with a number of harmonic components, each having a specific amplitude and phase relative to the fundamental. In this chapter the authors investigates these complex waveforms and describe methods that the reader can use to analyze them in terms of their individual component waves. SCILAB provides the reader with an excellent tool for visualising complex waveforms. Harmonic components can also be generated in magnetic components (such as inductors and transformers) where the relationship between flux density and applied current is non-linear. An alternative tabular method can be used to determine Fourier coefficients. This method is based on an application of the trapezoidal rule. Fourier analysis provides us with a powerful technique based on the concept that all waveforms, whether continuous or discontinuous, can be expressed in terms of a convergent series.
