An algorithm for the elastic flow of surfaces (Q2569366)

The author considers the elastic flow of closed two-dimensional surfaces in \(\mathbb R^3\). For a parametric representation of the evolving surfaces the problem gives rise to a nonlinear parabolic system of fourth order for the position vector \(X\). The author derives an equivalent variational formulation which splits the system into two second order equations for \(X\) and the mean curvature vector \(Y\). The weak formulation contains at most first order derivatives of \(X\) and \(Y\) which is remarkable since Gauss curvature appears in the original system. Based on this observation the author suggests a semi-discrete and a fully discrete scheme which uses linear finite elements for discretization in space.