Dual mixed finite element methods for the elasticity problem with Lagrange multipliers

We study a dual mixed formulation of the elasticity system in a polygonal domain of the plane with mixed boundary conditions and its numerical approximation. The (essential) Neumann boundary conditions (or traction boundary condition) are imposed using a discontinuous Lagrange multiplier corresponding to the trace of the displacement field. Moreover, a strain tensor is introduced as a new unknown and its symmetry is relaxed, also by the use of a Lagrange multiplier (the rotation). The singular behaviour of the solution requires us to use refined meshes to restore optimal rates of convergence. Uniform error estimates in the Lamé coefficient λ are obtained for large λ. The hybridization of the problem is performed and numerical tests are presented confirming our theoretical results.