Morley FEM for a Distributed Optimal Control Problem Governed by the von Kármán Equations

Consider the distributed optimal control problem governed by the von Karman equations defined on a polygonal domain of ℝ 2 {\mathbb{R}^{2}} that describe the deflection of very thin plates with box constraints on the control variable. This article discusses a numerical approximation of the problem that employs the Morley nonconforming finite element method (FEM) to discretize the state and adjoint variables. The control is discretized using piecewise constants. A priori error estimates are derived for the state, adjoint and control variables under minimal regularity assumptions on the exact solution. Error estimates in lower-order norms for the state and adjoint variables are derived. The lower-order estimates for the adjoint variable and a post-processing of control leads to an improved error estimate for the control variable. Numerical results confirm the theoretical results obtained.