Comparison of strain recovery techniques for the mixed iterative method

==Abstract==

Three strain recovery techniques are investigated in the framework of the mixed iterative method. The need for appropriate strain recovery for low-order elements is shown. The three techniques compared are: C-lumping, strain-smoothing and a new technique called C-splitting. It is shown that the use of C-lumping has negative effects on the convergence of the mixed iterative method. Both strain-smoothing and C-splitting deliver convergent results, but the new technique converges faster.