Global mode hourglassing control (Q580028)

A technique for control of hourglassing deformation through the detection and removal of energyless global modes is described. It is shown that a simply connected assembly of isoparametric quadrilaterals will always have two global hourglassing modes, and in some cases will have a third mode. Removal of global hourglassing modes is achieved very simply by constraining them out. Better results are obtained if these modes are made orthogonal to a linear displacement so they do not interact with rigid-body or constant strain modes. This technique requires somewhat less computation than element-by-element techniques, and this could be especially significant in three-dimensional problems involving hexahedral elements.