Virtual element method for an elliptic hemivariational inequality with applications to contact mechanics (Q2291914)

The virtual element methods (VEMs) are applied for the solution of elliptic hemivariational inequalities. An error analysis is provided for the numerical method under some standard assumptions and optimal error estimates are derived. VEMs are applied to solve a bilateral contact problem with friction and a frictionless contact problem with normal compliance. The discrete nonconvex problem is converted into a difference of convex functions (DC) programming, and the double-bundle method is applied to find the Clarke stationary point. Numerical results illustrate the computational performance of the VEMs.