Multi-Physics Simulation Strategies with Application to Fuel Cell Modeling

Real-world behavior of many physical systems is often the result of several physical factors acting simultaneously so multi-physics analyses are often necessary to understand the systems. However, coupled-physics problems are challenging due to increased non-linearity and size of the problem. Therefore, a series of strategies are required to address the increased computational cost associated with solving the large system of non-linear equations that arise from coupled-physics problems. In this paper, we look at some different multi-physics solution strategies applied to the equations governing the behavior of fuel cells. Specifically, the issues of non-linearity, memory and processor requirements are addressed through the use of continuation and segregated solution schemes. Examples for the time-independent solution of 3-D fuel cell models by the finite element method are presented.