Stabilization of low-order mixed finite elements for the plane elasticity equations

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the mixed finite element method of the plane elasticity equations based on the Hellinger–Reissner variational principle. Low order mixed finite element spaces are used to approximate the stress and the displacement. Based on the local polynomial projection stabilization method, we present a stabilization scheme for the pairs to overcome the lack of the inf–supcondition. The stability is proved and the error estimate is derived. At last, two numerical examples are implemented to test the stability and effectiveness of the proposed method. These pairs are very convenient in the numerical implementation for the mixed form of the plane elasticity equations.