An a posteriori error estimator for the p- and hp-versions of the finite element method

An a posteriori error estimator is proposed in this paper for the p- and hp-versions of the finite element method in two-dimensional linear elastostatic problems. The local error estimator consists in an enhancement of an error indicator proposed by Bertóti and Szabó (Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng. 1998; 42:561–587), which is based on the minimum complementary energy principle. In order to obtain the local error estimate, this error indicator is corrected by a factor which depends only on the polynomial degree of the element. The proposed error estimator shows a good effectivity index in meshes with uniform and non-uniform polynomial distributions, especially when the global error is estimated. Furthermore, the local error estimator is reliable enough to guide p- and hp-adaptive refinement strategies