Curl-conform source fields in finite element formulations - Automatic construction of a reduced form

Purpose - This paper proposes an automatic procedure to characterize discrete source fields. Design/methodology/approach - A technique is developed to characterize curl-conform fields to be used as source fields or non-local basis functions in finite element formulations. A reduced characterization of such fields using curl-conform finite elements is defined. An automatic construction of these curl-conform spaces is proposed. Findings - A reduced characterization of such fields is shown to be convenient for the coupling with complementary reaction fields and for simply and explicitly defining non-local quantities, such as currents in h-conform magnetodynamic formulations. The reduced form rests on the choice of supports for the fields limited to reduced cut spaces associated with cuts making the definition domain simply connected. Originality/value - Develops a procedure to simplify the construction of curl-conform source fields.