Finite element solution of the thermistor problem with a ramp electrical conductivity

This paper presents approximate steady-state solutions of a one-dimensional positive temperature coefficient thermistor problem with a ramp function electrical conductivity using the Galerkin cubic B-spline finite element method. The numerical results obtained by the present method have been compared with the exact one and also those obtained by earlier authors, and are found to be in very good agreement with each other. Further, it is shown that the numerical solutions satisfy the correct physical phenomena of the problem.