Guaranteed lower eigenvalue bounds for the biharmonic equation (Q2436536)

This article considers the computation of lower eigenvalue bounds for the biharmonic equation. This has applications for the biharmonic operator in the buckling of plates and as such is vital with regard to the safety assessment in structural mechanics and highly on demand for the separation of eigenvalues for the plate vibration. The Morley nonconforming finite element method provides asymptotic lower eigenvalue bounds for the relevant problem. This article provides a counterexample to the possible conjecture that the Morley eigenvalue \(\lambda_M\) is always a lower bound. As such, it is shown that the Morley eigenvalue \(\lambda_M\) is in general not a lower bound of \(\lambda\). Furthermore, the article provides the guaranteed lower bound for a known mesh-size function \(\epsilon\) and provides lower bounds for higher eigenvalues. The main tool for the explicit determination of \(\epsilon\) is the \(L_2\) error estimate for the Morley interpolation operator, which it is shown also leads to guaranteed error control for the Morley finite element discretisation of the biharmonic problem \(\triangle^2 u = f\). The results obtained are compared with numerical experiments and as such it is shown that the findings of the article allow guaranteed lower eigenvalue bounds via some immediate postprocessing on coarse meshes with reasonable accuracy even for mediocre refinements.