On the performances of different nodal integration techniques and their stabilization

Finite element method was successfully applied in the simulation of several forming processes; however, it does not represent an absolute reference point. In fact, large deformation corresponds to a heavy mesh distortion. Powerful rezoning-remeshing algorithms strongly reduce the effects of such a limitation but the computational time significantly increases and additional errors occur. Nodal Integration is a recently introduced technique that allows finite element method to provide reliable results also when meshes becomes distorted in traditional FEMs. Furthermore, volumetric locking problems seem to be avoided using this integration technique instead of other methods such as coupled formulations. Nevertheless, spurious low-energy modes appear due to the nodal averaging of strain. For this reason stabilizing methods application seems to be suitable. What is more, different nodal integration techniques have been proposed, although spurious modes are a common problem. In this paper the performances of three different nodal integration techniques and the effects of a recently introduced stabilization methodology are studied simulating a classical forming process.