On the solvability of asymmetric quasilinear finite element approximate problems in nonlinear incompressible elasticity

A class of simplicial finite elements for solving incompressible elasticity problems in n-dimensional space, n=2 or 3, is presented. An asymmetric structure of the shape functions with respect to the centroid of the simplex, renders them particularly stable in the large strain case, in which the incompressibility condition is nonlinear. It is proved that under certain assembling conditions of the elements, there exists a solution to the corresponding discrete problems. Numerical examples illustrate the efficiency of the method. (Author)