A $C^0$ finite element algorithm for the sixth order problem with simply supported boundary conditions

In this paper, we study the sixth order equation with the simply supported boundary conditions in a polygonal domain. We propose a new mixed formulation that decomposes the sixth order problem into a system of Poisson equations. Depending on the interior angles of the domain, additional Poisson problems may be needed to confine the solution to the correct Sobolev space. In addition, we propose a $C^0$ finite element algorithm for the sixth order problem and provide the optimal error analysis. Numerical results are reported to verify the theoretical findings.