On the location of maxima of the gradient for solutions to quasilinear elliptic problems and a problem raised by Saint Venant (Q578971)

Saint Venant calculated the solutions of torsion problems for various plane domains which had the orthogonal axes \(x_ 1\) and \(x_ 2\) as axes of symmetry. He observed for all his examples that the function \(| \nabla u(x)|\) becomes maximal in those points \(x=(x_ 1,x_ 2)\) on the boundary which have minimal distance to the origin, where u is the solution of a torsion problem. The author gives some counterexamples and notes that there is no proof in the existing literature for the vague statement (about the points at which \(| \nabla u(x)|\) becomes maximal): ``In general it occurs near one of the points of contact of the largest inscribed circle, and of these at that one where the boundary is least convex or most concave''. The author proves three theorems which are closely related to this statement.