On the p-version approximation in the boundary element method for a variational inequality of the second kind modelling unilateral contact and given friction

In this paper we complement recent work of Maischak and Stephan on adaptive hp-versions of the BEM for unilateral Signorini problems, respectively on FEM-BEM coupling in its h-version for a nonlinear transmission problem modelling Coulomb friction contact. Here we focus on the boundary element method in its p-version to treat a scalar variational inequality of the second kind that models unilateral contact and Coulomb friction in elasticity together. This leads to a nonconforming discretization scheme. In contrast to the work cited above and to a related paper of Guediri on a boundary variational inequality of the second kind modelling friction we take the quadrature error of the friction functional into account of the error analysis. At first without any regularity assumptions, we prove convergence of the BEM Galerkin approximation in the energy norm. Then under mild regularity assumptions, we establish an a priori error estimate that is based on a novel Céa–Falk lemma for abstract variational inequalities of the second kind.