Uniform Gradient Element Formulation with Hourglass Control Scheme for Solving Fully Coupled Finite-Element Equations for Saturated Soils

A uniform gradient (UG) element formulation for a four-node quadrilateral element is derived and implemented for solving the fully coupled governing equations for the dynamics of a saturated porous medium. An hourglass control scheme is also derived for eliminating the hourglass modes that arise when using the UG element formulation. The effectiveness of the new formulations is investigated by simulating the quasi-static and dynamics response of a footing and the dynamic response of an earth dam. The results show that the level of excitation of hourglass modes is problem-dependent and mesh-dependent. The proposed method for controlling the hourglass modes is shown to be effective with minimal effect on the computed response.