Introductory remarks

Abstract

The topic of coupled fields has recently gained increasing interest. It is well known that, on one hand, heat dissipation due to applied and induced currenty accompanies the operation of practically all electromagnetic devices so that heat transfer plays a considerable role in their design; on the other hand, the electromagnetic field gives origin to mechanical stresses and, when applicable, movement in electromechanical devices. This interaction is, actually speaking, reciprocal in that temperature distribution and movement caused by mechanical stress influence, in turn, the electromagnetic field. As a consequence, the investigation of coupled fields, including electric, magnetic, thermal and mechanical fields, is complex and troublesome. Despite the availability of big computers and new methodologies, the solution of the resulting non linear time varying equations in three dimensions for any device is not yet feasible. So, at the moment either simplified structures are considered for solving the whole problem or complicated structures are analyzed, making however approximations on the formulation of the problem. Five contributions are included in the chapter.