Analytical integration formulae for linear isoparametric finite elements

Exact and approximate analytical expressions can be derived for integrals arising in finite element methods, employing isoparametric linear quadrilaterals in two space dimensions with bilinear basis functions. The formulae associated with rectangular elements, arbitrarily oriented in space, can be shown to be a special case. The proposed method provides considerable savings in computational effort, in comparison with a numerical method that employs Gaussian quadrature procedures. In addition, the method, when applied to a quadrilateral inscribable in a circle, can be shown to produce better accuracy than the associated (2 × 2) Gaussian quadrature formulae.