Mixed finite element for the linear plate problem: The Hermann-Miyoshi model revisited (Q2564485)

The authors study the application of the mixed finite element method to the Kirchhoff model of the plate theory. The main goal of this paper is to give the relationship between the Hermann-Miyoshi and the classical Ciarlet-Raviart formulations of the biharmonic problem. The study of this relationship is based on a decomposition principle that is the key component to the analysis of the numerical problem. A secondary variable is introduced in the corresponding minimization problem and Lagrange multiplier technique is used to correctly impose the relation between the new variable and the displacement variable. A complete error analysis is provided. Results of some simple numerical experiments are presented. There are discussions on the behavior of the iterative method used as well as on the discretization errors. The paper is interesting for numerical mathematicians dealing with mixed finite element methods for solving boundary value problems for the biharmonic equation and applications in the elasticity theory.