Summary
Most of the existing convergence theory of mixed finite element methods for solving the plate bending problem converns the model case of a purely clamped or simply supported plate with sufficiently regular boundary. The extension of this analysis to more complicated situations encounters two major difficulties: first, the problem of verifying the stability of the schemes in the case of a partially free boundary and, second, the reduction of the solution's regularity in the presence of reentrant corners or changes in the type of the boundary conditions. In this paper these questions are studied for the approximation of the Kirchhoff plate model by one of the mixed finite element schemes due to L. R. Herrmann, the so-called “first Herrmann scheme”. It is shown that this method converges on any polygonal domain and for all usual boundary conditions. The proof is based on the fact that this particular mixed scheme is algebraically equivalent to a nonconforming displacement method.
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Communicated by E. Stein, July 13, 1989