Analytical and numerical results for a dynamic contact problem with two stops in thermoelastic diffusion theory

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the dynamic behaviour of a thermoelastic diffusion rod clamped at one end and moves freely between two stops at the other. The contact is modelled with the Signorini or normal compliance conditions. The coupled system of equations consists of a hyperbolic equation and two parabolic equations. This problem poses new mathematical difficulties due to the nonlinear boundary conditions. The existence of a weak solution is proved using a penalization method and compensated compactness. Moreover, we show that the weak solution converges to zero exponentially as time goes to infinity. We describe the discrete finite element method to our numerical approximations and we show that the given solution converges to the weak solution. Finally, we give an error estimate assuming extra regularity on the solution and we give some results of our numerical experiments.