Abstract
The problem of heat transfer in a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) thermistor, which may form one element of an electric circuit, is solved numerically by a finite element method. The approach used is based on Galerkin finite element using quadratic splines as shape functions. The resulting system of ordinary differential equations is solved by the finite difference method. Comparison is made with numerical and analytical solutions and the accuracy of the computed solutions indicates that the method is well suited for the solution of the PTC thermistor problem.