Morley Type Virtual Element Method for Von Kármán Equations

This paper analyses the nonconforming Morley type virtual element method to approximate a regular solution to the von Kármán equations that describes bending of very thin elastic plates. Local existence and uniqueness of a discrete solution to the non-linear problem is discussed. A priori error estimate in the energy norm is established under minimal regularity assumptions on the exact solution. Error estimates in piecewise $H^1$ and $L^2$ norm are also derived. A working procedure to find an approximation for the discrete solution using Newtons method is discussed. Numerical results that justify theoretical estimates are presented.