Mathematics - Colloquium
Friday, November 13, 2009
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
ABSTRACT: Mixed methods are a class of finite element methods. Applied to elasticity problems, mixed methods approximate both the stress and displacement variables and the resulting approximation to the stress variable converges faster than displacement-based finite element methods. This is important since in many applications the stress variable is the quantity of interest. Mixed methods also have the advantage that they perform better than displacement-based finite element methods for nearly incompressible materials.
In this talk I will discuss a class of mixed methods for linear elasticity. The methods we consider are known as weakly imposed symmetry methods since the approximation to the stress variable will in general not be symmetric. This allows one to borrow stable mixed finite element spaces for the Poisson problem, which are well known, and modify them in order to obtain stable spaces for the elasticity problem.
Suggested Audiences: Adult, College
E-mail:
ma-chair@wpi.edu
Last Modified: October 30, 2009 at 3:43 PM