A multigrid method for variational inequalities

Multigrid methods have been used with great success for solving elliptic partial differential equations. Penalty methods have been successful in solving finite-dimensional quadratic programs. In this paper these two techniques are combined to give a fast method for solving obstacle problems. A nonlinear penalized problem is solved using Newton`s method for large values of a penalty parameter. Multigrid methods are used to solve the linear systems in Newton`s method. The overall numerical method developed is based on an exterior penalty function, and numerical results showing the performance of the method have been obtained.