Averaging techniques for reliable a posteriori FE-error control in elastoplasticity with hardening Original Research Article

Averaging techniques are popular tools in adaptive finite element methods for numerical simulation in continuum mechanics since they provide efficient a posteriori error control. In this paper, the reliability of any averaging estimator is shown for low order finite element methods in one time-step of elastoplasticity with hardening. The constants and higher-order terms are effected by the hardening and the smoothness of given right-hand sides, but are independent of the structure of a shape-regular mesh. Since it involves a different functional analytical framework, the case of perfect plasticity is excluded from this paper.