Finite element modeling of sensor: thermoelectric effects

The author considers the modeling of materials and devices in which thermal, thermoelectric, and electric effects are important. A basic model and its implementation are discussed. The model consists of coupled sets of elliptic partial differential equations describing the relations between the intensive and extensive thermal and electric state variables. For the implementation a finite element method is used employing mixed-hybrid finite elements in order to accurately resolve the interaction terms between the electrical and thermal domains. To enhance robustness a continuation strategy has proven to be necessary.<>