Mixed formulations for a class of variational inequalities

Abstract

A general setting is proposed for the mixed finite element approximations of elliptic differential problems involving a unilateral boundary condition. The treatment covers the Signorini problem as well as the unilateral contact problem with or without friction. Existence, uniqueness for both the continuous and the discrete problem as well as error estimates are established in a general framework. As an application, the approximation of the Signorini problem by the lowest order mixed finite element method of Raviart–Thomas is proved to converge with a quasi-optimal error bound.