Numerical solution of Variational Inequalities by Adaptive Finite Elements

Franz-Theo Suttmeier describes a general approach to a posteriori error estimation and adaptive mesh design for finite element models where the solution is subjected to inequality constraints. This is an extension to variational inequalities of the so-called Dual-Weighted-Residual method (DWR method) which is based on a variational formulation of the problem and uses global duality arguments for deriving weighted a posteriori error estimates with respect to arbitrary functionals of the error. In these estimates local residuals of the computed solution are multiplied by sensitivity factors which are obtained from a numerically computed dual solution. The resulting local error indicators are used in a feed-back process for generating economical meshes which are tailored according to the particular goal of the computation.