A 20-node hexahedron element with enhanced distortion tolerance

This paper presents a distortion resistant 20-node hexahedron element that employs two different sets of shape functions for the trial and test functions. The formulation seeks to satisfy the continuity and completeness requirements by exploiting the intrinsic properties of these two sets of shape functions. Several test problems are used to assess the performance of the element under various mesh distortions. The ability of the proposed as well as the classical 20-node element to maintain solution accuracy under severe mesh distortions has been studied. The proposed element exhibits a very high tolerance to mesh distortions. In particular, for problems involving linear and quadratic displacement fields, the element is capable of reproducing exact solution under all admissible geometrical distortions of the mesh. For test problems involving higher-order displacement fields, the performance of the present element is in general better than that of the classical element. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.