A transition element for uniform strain hexahedral and tetrahedral finite elements

A transition element is presented for meshes containing uniform strain hexahedral and tetrahedral nite ele- ments. It is shown that the volume of the standard uniform strain hexahedron is identical to that of a poly- hedron with 14 vertices and 24 triangular faces. Based on this equivalence, a transition element is developed as a simple modi cation of the uniform strain hexahedron. The transition element makes use of a general method for hourglass control and satis es rst-order patch tests. Example problems in linear elasticity are included to demonstrate the application of the element. Copyright