Convergence of stress maxima in finite element computations

The convergence of stress maxima, computed directly from finite element solutions, is investigated with respect to a family of exact solutions characterized by varying degrees of smoothness. The performances of h‐ and p‐extensions and the product and trunk spaces are evaluated and documented with respect to a family of benchmark problems. In uniform p‐extensions a characteristic pattern in the convergence of stress maxima was observed. There does not appear to be a clear‐cut advantage of the product space over the trunk space in this respect. The much faster convergence of stress maxima in the case of p‐extensions, as compared with h‐extensions, is evident from the results.