The classification of coupled field problems

Abstract

The term "coupled problem" is used in many numerical approaches and applications. Various coupling mechanisms in a different context, such as field problems with electrical circuits, methods in a geometrically or physically sense, couplings in time and/or coupled methods to solve a field problem, are meant by this term. For a proper classification of these problems and related solution methods a systematic definition is proposed. It can be used in the evaluation and comparison of solution methods for various problems. It must be noted, that the proposed systematic is not complete but can be extended and can serve as the starting point for classifying coupled problems in general.