The Partial Projection Method in the Finite Element Discretization of the Reissner-Mindlin Plate Model

Abstract

In the paper a linear combination of both the standard mixed formulation and the displacement one of the Reissner-Mindlin plate theory is used to enhance stability of the former and to remove "locking" of the later. For this new stabilized formulation, a unified approach to convergence analysis is presented for a wide spectrum of finite element spaces. As long as the rotation space is appropriately enriched, the formulation is convergent for the finite element spaces of sufficiently high order. Optimal-order error estimates with constants independent of the plate thickness are proved for the various lower order methods of this kind.