Convergence of an Adaptive Mixed Finite Element Method for Kirchhoff Plate Bending Problems

  • Authors:
  • Jianguo Huang;Xuehai Huang;Yifeng Xu

  • Affiliations:
  • jghuang@sjtu.edu.cn;xuehai_huang@yahoo.com.cn and yfxuma@yahoo.com.cn;-

  • Venue:
  • SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

Some reliable and efficient a posteriori error estimators are produced for a mixed finite element method (the Hellan-Herrmann-Johnson (H-H-J) method) for Kirchhoff plate bending problems (cf. [K. Hellan, Acta Polytech. Scand. Civil Engrg. Ser., 46 (1967), pp. 1-28], [L. Herrmann, J. Eng. Mech. Div. ASCE, 93 (1967), pp. 13-26], [C. Johnson, Numer. Math., 21 (1973), pp. 43-62]). Based on these results with $k=0,1$, where $k$ denotes the polynomial order of the discrete moment-field space, an adaptive mixed finite element method (AMFEM) is set up, and its convergence and complexity are studied thoroughly. The key points of the theoretical analysis include achieving a discrete Helmholtz decomposition and a discrete inf-sup condition, which serve as the main tools in deducing the quasi-orthogonality of the moment field and the discrete reliability of the estimator. It is shown that the AMFEM is a contraction for the sum of the moment-field error in an energy norm and the scaled error estimator between two consecutive adaptive loops. Moreover, an estimate for the AMFEM's complexity via the number of elements is developed.