Semi-discrete and fully discrete weak Galerkin finite element methods for a quasistatic Maxwell viscoelastic model

This paper considers weak Galerkin finite element approximations for a quasistatic Maxwell viscoelastic model. The spatial discretization uses piecewise polynomials of degree $k \ (k\geq 1)$ for the stress approximation, degree $k+1$ for the velocity approximation, and degree $k$ for the numerical trace of velocity on the inter-element boundaries. The temporal discretization in the fully discrete method adopts a backward Euler difference scheme. We show the existence and uniqueness of the semi-discrete and fully discrete solutions, and derive optimal a priori error estimates. Numerical examples are provided to support the theoretical analysis.