The virtual element method for a nonhomogeneous double obstacle problem of Kirchhoff plate

This paper is intended to propose and analyze the lowest order conforming and nonconforming virtual element methods (VEMs) for a nonhomogeneous double obstacle problem in fourth-order variational inequality. We first present an abstract framework for the error analysis of an abstract discrete method. Then, we develop the conforming and fully nonconforming VEMs for the previous problem, with the optimal error estimates obtained by using the previous abstract framework combined with two modified interpolation operators and the related estimates. The discrete problem is solved by the primal-dual active set algorithm and the numerical results are in good agreement with theoretical findings.(c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.