A MIXED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE CONTACT PROBLEM IN ELASTICITY

Based on the analysis of[7]and[10],we present the mixed finite element approxima- tion of the variational inequality resulting from the contact problem in elasticity.The convergence rate of the stress and displacement field are both improved from O(h~(3/4))to quasi-optimal O(h|logh|~(1/4)).If stronger but reasonable regularity is available,the conver- gence rate can be optimal O(h).