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Published March 2010 | public
Journal Article

The compatibility approach in the classical theory of thermoelectricity seen from the perspective of variational calculus

Abstract

The compatibility approach introduced by Snyder and Ursell opens a new pathway for the improvement of thermoelectric (TE) device performance. It has been shown that sufficient compatibility is - besides an increase of the averaged figure of merit Z - essential for efficient operation of a TE device, and that compatibility will facilitate rational materials selection, device design, and the engineering of functionally graded materials (FGMs). In this paper, the authors give an overview of the fundamental results and present a new approach from the perspective of variational calculus. A particular focus is on the role of ideal self-compatibility, i.e., adjusting compatibility locally at any position along a TE leg.

Additional Information

© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Received 4 September 2009, revised 15 January 2010, accepted 18 January 2010. Published online 26 February 2010. The authors are indebted to C. Goupil, Laboratoire CRISMAT, Caen, France, for helpful discussions.

Additional details

Created:
August 21, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023