Hourglass Modes

Hourglass modes are element distortions that have zero strain energy. The 4 node shell element has 12 translational modes, 3 rigid body modes (1, 2, 9), 6 deformation modes (3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11) and 3 hourglass modes (7, 8, 12).


Figure 1. Translational Modes of Shell
Along with the translational modes, the 4 node shell has 12 rotational modes: 4 out of plane rotation modes (1, 2, 3, 4), 2 deformation modes (5, 6), 2 rigid body or deformation modes (7, 8) and 4 hourglass modes (9, 10, 11, 12).


Figure 2. Rotational Modes of Shell

Hourglass Viscous Forces

Hourglass resistance forces are usually either viscous or stiffness related. The viscous forces relate to the rate of displacement or velocity of the elemental nodes, as if the material was a highly viscous fluid. The viscous formulation used by Radioss is the same as that outlined by Kosloff and Frasier 1. Refer to Hourglass Modes. An hourglass normalized vector is defined as:(1)
Γ = ( 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 )
The hourglass velocity rate for the above vector is defined as:(2)
q i t = Γ I v i I = v i I v i 2 + v i 3 v i 4
The hourglass resisting forces at node I MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@ for in-plane modes are:(3)
f i I h g r = 1 4 ρ c t h m A 2 q i t Γ I
For out of plane mode, the resisting forces are:(4)
f i I h g r = 1 4 ρ c t 2 h f 10
Where,
i MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@
Direction index
I MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@
Node index
t MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@
Element thickness
c MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@
Sound propagation speed
A MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@
Element area
ρ
Material density
h m MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamiAamaaBa aaleaacaWGTbaabeaaaaa@3801@
Shell membrane hourglass coefficient
h f MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamiAamaaBa aaleaacaWGTbaabeaaaaa@3801@
Shell out of plane hourglass coefficient

Hourglass Elastic Stiffness Forces

Radioss can apply a stiffness force to resist hourglass modes. This acts in a similar fashion to the viscous resistance, but uses the elastic material stiffness and node displacement to determine the size of the force. The formulation is the same as that outlined by Flanagan et al. 2 Refer to Flanagan-Belytschko Formulation. The hourglass resultant forces are defined as:(5)
f i I h g r = f i h g r Γ I
For membrane modes:(6)
f i h g r ( t + Δ t ) = f i h g r ( t ) + 1 8 h m E t q i t Δ t
For out of plane modes:(7)
f i h g r ( t + Δ t ) = f i h g r ( t ) + 1 40 h f E t 3 q i t Δ t
Where,
t MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@
Element thickness
Δt
Time step
E MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamyyaaaa@36DC@
Young's modulus

Hourglass Viscous Moments

This formulation is analogous to the hourglass viscous force scheme. The hourglass angular velocity rate is defined for the main hourglass modes as:(8)
r i t = Γ I ω i I I = ω i 1 ω i 2 + ω i 3 ω i 4
The hourglass resisting moments at node I MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamysaaaa@36C4@ are given by:(9)
m i I h g r = 1 50 h r 2 ρ c A t 2 r i t Γ I

Where, h r MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamiAamaaBa aaleaacaWGTbaabeaaaaa@3801@ is the shell rotation hourglass coefficient.

1 Kosloff D. and Frazier G., “Treatment of hourglass pattern in low order finite element code”, International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 1978.
2 Flanagan D. and Belytschko T., “A Uniform Strain Hexahedron and Quadrilateral with Orthogonal Hourglass Control”, Int. Journal Num. Methods in Engineering, 17 679-706, 1981.