ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on scalar field engineering problems in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) spaces. For scalar field problems, the field quantities of interest are scalar variables, such as temperature, concentration of a certain species, and electrical potential. Since scalar variables are independent of directions, even in 2D and 3D spaces there is only one field quantity at each node of the discretized elements. Scalar problems are sometimes referred to as single-variable problems. It discusses the finite element method formulation for 2D and 3D scalar field problems, as well as the types of 2D and 3D scalar field problems.
