A modeling approach of a coupled problem between electrical current and its thermal effects

In some electrical equipment it can be useful to calculate the currents and temperatures caused by Joule effects in critical regions, especially when high voltages are present and high current densities are applied. In the present work, a 2-D finite-element method is presented whose goal is to determine the evolution of currents and temperatures with time for this kind of situation. Specifically, the authors present a methodology for evaluation of currents and temperatures in a coupled-transient problem, using the electrical vector potential. Experimental results were obtained in a switchgear where the contact region is quite similar to the domain presented here. The agreement between the experiment and the proposed method is good