Control of spurious modes in the nine‐node quadrilateral element

The nine-node quadrilateral is much more accurate than its eight-node relative if elements are non-rectangular. However, the nine-node element may display spurious low-energy modes under 2 × 2 Gauss quadrature. These modes can be controlled by using the 3 × 3 quadrature rule, but at added cost. This paper investigates two inexpensive control devices that can be used with 2 × 2 Gauss quadrature.