2017_Easy Finite-Element Implementation.pdf (original) (raw)

The nodal method of electric circuit theory is fully exploited in our work to provide general building blocks that lead to the non-linear system of equations that model 2D low-frequency electromagnetic problems coupled to electric circuits. The building blocks of the electromagnetic region and circuit system (with arbitrary topology) are easily assembled together using the simple rules of the nodal method. This methodology is restricted to current-forced electric configurations and to a special class of circuit elements. Nevertheless, it is posible to overcome these limitations using the Modified Nodal Analysis method, providing a general methodology that copes with the 2D electromagnetic coupled problem. It is shown that Galerkin or variational approaches are compatible with the building-block approach through winding vectors. This way, a complete and practical computer implementation can be readily written/coded that performs efficiently in terms of computational times and resources. Examples are solved using our computer programs and their results compared with those of validated commercial software.