Thanks Dan!
Of course you know where I went directly.... to John Atwood's article on power sources
3 phase based rectifiers, pishtosh! With LeBlanc transformers and their variants, once you've 3 phase power you can arbitrarily go to any # phases, 2 phase [Edison's original preference for AC, which isn't balanced split phase but 2 lines 90o out of phase] up to 5, 10, 39. This is actually an active area in industrial electronics, aimed not only at minimizing ripple, but also minimizing those dreaded tripplet harmonics which put unwanted currents on the neutral, royally screw up power factor, and often cause electrical fires.
The transformers and rectification schemes used in some of the newer EDM machines is truly amazing.
And now I'll actually look at some of the more practical articles
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