Numerical Simulation Framework for Weakly Coupled Multiphysical Problems in Electrical Engineering

Every engineering discipline faces the fact of ever-shortening time-to-market windows and development cycles. In order to counteract these, virtual prototyping, sim- ulation and problem optimization are employed in a rapidly increasing number of cases. Yet, the key to efficient problem formulation by professionals still lies in the use of sophisti- cated simulation software capable of processing numerous diverse design and optimization tasks in a versatile way. More often than not, different tools for different workflows need to be coordinated and interdepend on each others data in the design process chain. When toolchains need to be run multiple times, as it is typically the case in numerical optimization, the lineup overhead tends to be tedious to both man and machine. This paper describes different aspects concerning the design of a software and data frame- work which tackles the problem of lining up software tools that may be incoherent in terms of data exchange and control mode. The resulting system covers all parts of multiphysical simulation problems that may arise in electrical engineering and its adjoining disciplines as an application of the finite element method.