Direct and inverse approximation for finite element solutions of the p and h-p versions and applications to three-dimensional propblem, nonlinear problems and Kirchhoff plate problem.

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Numerical Simulation plays an extremely important role for solving practical problems arising from various fields of engineering, science, finance, and health science as computer technology has rapidly developed in the recent decades. Numerical simulation involves numerical methods, error analysis, assessment of computed solutions, algorithms, and applications. The finite element method (FEM) is today's most adopted numerical method for numerical simulation, and the high-order (p and h-p) FEM provides reliable solutions with high accuracy and lower computational cost. My proposed research will focus on the p and h-p FEM in three dimensions and their applications to nonlinear problems and plate problems. The real world we are living is three-dimensional, and three dimensional models reflect precisely the nature of physical problems in the real world. Therefore Numerical simulation is of greater significance, and is also much more difficult for three-dimensional models than those simplified to one and two dimensions due to the complexity of geometry of polyhedral domains and anisotropic singularities of solutions. The optimal error estimation of the p and h-p version for problems on polyhedral domains is extremely difficult, and has been a challenging issue for decades. The inverse approximation of FE solution of p-version has been an untouched issue so far for three dimensional problems, which could indicate regularity of the solution based on the computed date to improve the efficiency of adaptive algorithms of p and h-p FEM. My proposed research will have important impact on the approximation theory of FEM and practical scientific/engineering computations in three dimensions. Corrosion is an electrochemical reaction with its environment, which causes severe damage to engineering structures such as ships, bridges, and metal containers. A commonly used technique in corrosion engineering is a so-called catholic protection system, which is modeled by a linear elliptical equation with a nonlinear Neumann boundary condition. In this system, impressed current is applied to control the electrical potential on the portion of surface of the engineering structure to be protected. The accurate numerical solution of the electrical potential is essential for the catholic protection. Since the Neumann condition is discontinuous at the changing point where the Neumann condition changes from a linear type to a nonlinear polarization functions, the singularity occurs there, and severely affects the global regularity and convergence of the FE solutions. My proposed research will investigate singularity near the changing point in a countably weighted Sobolev spaces and design a highly accurate h-p finite element method associated with geometric meshes. Obviously, the research will be of great impact on corrosion engineering as well as to the nonlinear analysis generally. Kirchhoff plate is a typical model of the plate problem, which is characterized by a biharmonic equation with various boundary conditions. It is known that the solutions have severe singularity of r^s-type with s >1 at vertices of the polygonal plate. The convergence of the p and h-p FE solutions with C0 and C1 continuity on a general quasi-uniform mesh will be analyzed. There are several key issues to be dealt with:(1) Optimal bound of approximation error in p and h for the singular function measured in the Sobolev H^2-norm on individual element;(2) Construction of a globally C1-continuous and piecewise polynomial without compromising the optimal error bound in the global H^2-norm;(3) Nonconforming p and h-p FEM with C0-elements for singular solution. The progress of the my proposed research will add new knowledge to numerical simulation for the plate problems.