Fast and accurate 4-node quadrilateral

An accurate and variationally consistent 4-node quadrilateral element is introduced where high coarse mesh accuracy and low mesh distortion sensitivity are characteristic qualities, even when incompressibility is approached for plane strain. One-point quadrature integration procedure is adopted and a new improved stabilization technique is developed. Orthogonality conditions are utilized so that the patch test is satisfied for arbitrary quadrilaterals. Several numerical examples including a convergence rate study are presented which confirm the excellent performance of this element. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.