On the h-adaptive coupling of FE and BE for viscoplastic and elasto-plastic interface problems

This paper presents a posteriori error estimates for the symmetric finite element and boundary element coupling for a nonlinear interface problem: A bounded body with a viscoplastic or plastic material behaviour is surrounded by an elastic body. The nonlinearity is treated by the finite element method while large parts of the linear elastic body are approximated using the boundary element method. Based on the a posteriori error estimates we derive an algorithm for the adaptive mesh refinement of the boundary elements and the finite elements. Its implementation is documented and numerical examples are included.