Abaqus/Explicit Element Index

This index provides a reference to all of the element types that are available in Abaqus/Explicit.

Elements are listed in alphabetical order, where numerical characters precede the letter “A” and two-digit numbers are put in numerical, rather than “alphabetical,” order. For example, C3D8R precedes CAX3.

For certain options, such as contact and surface-based distributing coupling, Abaqus may generate internal elements (such as IDCOUP3D for surface-based distributing coupling). These internal element names are not included in the index below but may appear in an output database (.odb) or data (.dat) file.

AC2D3

3-node linear 2D acoustic triangle

AC2D4R

4-node linear 2D acoustic quadrilateral, reduced integration, hourglass control

AC3D4

4-node linear acoustic tetrahedron

AC3D6

6-node linear acoustic triangular prism

AC3D8R

8-node linear acoustic brick, reduced integration, hourglass control

ACAX3

3-node linear axisymmetric acoustic triangle

ACAX4R

4-node linear axisymmetric acoustic quadrilateral, reduced integration, hourglass control

ACIN2D2

2-node linear 2D acoustic infinite element

ACIN3D3

3-node linear 3D acoustic infinite element

ACIN3D4

4-node linear 3D acoustic infinite element

ACINAX2

2-node linear axisymmetric acoustic infinite element

B21

2-node linear beam in a plane

B22

3-node quadratic beam in a plane

B31

2-node linear beam in space

B32

3-node quadratic beam in space

C3D4

4-node linear tetrahedron

C3D4H

4-node linear tetrahedron, hybrid linear pressure

C3D5

5-node linear pyramid

C3D4T

4-node thermally coupled tetrahedron, linear displacement and temperature

C3D6

6-node linear triangular prism, reduced integration, hourglass control

C3D6T

6-node thermally coupled triangular prism, linear displacement and temperature, reduced integration, hourglass control

C3D8

8-node linear brick

C3D8I

8-node linear brick, incompatible modes

C3D8R

8-node linear brick, reduced integration, hourglass control

C3D8T

8-node thermally coupled brick, trilinear displacement and temperature

C3D8RT

8-node thermally coupled brick, trilinear displacement and temperature, reduced integration, hourglass control

C3D10M

10-node modified second-order tetrahedron

C3D10MT

10-node modified thermally coupled second-order tetrahedron

CAX3

3-node linear axisymmetric triangle

CAX3T

3-node thermally coupled axisymmetric triangle, linear displacement and temperature

CAX4R

4-node bilinear axisymmetric quadrilateral, reduced integration, hourglass control

CAX4RT

4-node thermally coupled axisymmetric quadrilateral, bilinear displacement and temperature, hybrid, constant pressure, reduced integration, hourglass control

CAX6M

6-node modified second-order axisymmetric triangle

CAX6MT

6-node modified second-order axisymmetric thermally coupled triangle

CIN3D8

8-node linear one-way infinite brick

CINAX4

4-node linear axisymmetric one-way infinite quadrilateral

CINPE4

4-node linear plane strain one-way infinite quadrilateral

CINPS4

4-node linear plane stress one-way infinite quadrilateral

COHAX4

4-node axisymmetric cohesive element

COH2D4

4-node two-dimensional cohesive element

COH3D6

6-node three-dimensional cohesive element

COH3D8

8-node three-dimensional cohesive element

CONN2D2

Connector element in a plane between two nodes or ground and a node

CONN3D2

Connector element in space between two nodes or ground and a node

CPE3

3-node linear plane strain triangle

CPE3T

3-node plane strain thermally coupled triangle, linear displacement and temperature

CPE4R

4-node bilinear plane strain quadrilateral, reduced integration, hourglass control

CPE4RT

4-node bilinear plane strain thermally coupled quadrilateral, bilinear displacement and temperature, reduced integration, hourglass control

CPE6M

6-node modified second-order plane strain triangle

CPE6MT

6-node modified second-order plane strain thermally coupled triangle

CPS3

3-node linear plane stress triangle

CPS3T

3-node plane stress thermally coupled triangle, linear displacement and temperature

CPS4R

4-node bilinear plane stress quadrilateral, reduced integration, hourglass control

CPS4RT

4-node plane stress thermally coupled quadrilateral, bilinear displacement and temperature, reduced integration, hourglass control

CPS6M

6-node modified second-order plane stress triangle

CPS6MT

6-node modified second-order plane stress thermally coupled triangle

DASHPOTA

Axial dashpot between two nodes

EC3D8R

8-node linear multi-material Eulerian brick, reduced integration, hourglass control

EC3D8RT

8-node thermally coupled linear multi-material Eulerian brick, reduced integration, hourglass control

HEATCAP

Point heat capacitance

M3D3

3-node triangular membrane

M3D4

4-node quadrilateral membrane

M3D4R

4-node quadrilateral membrane, reduced integration, hourglass control

MASS

Point mass

PC3D

1-node continuum particle element

PD3D

1-node discrete particle element

PIPE21

2-node linear pipe in a plane

PIPE31

2-node linear pipe in space

R2D2

2-node 2D linear rigid link (for use in plane strain or plane stress)

R3D3

3-node 3D rigid triangular facet

R3D4

4-node 3D bilinear rigid quadrilateral

RAX2

2-node linear axisymmetric rigid link (for use in axisymmetric geometries)

ROTARYI

Rotary inertia at a point

S3R

3-node triangular shell, finite membrane strains

S3RS

3-node triangular shell, small membrane strains

S3RT

3-node thermally-coupled triangular shell, finite membrane strains

S4

4-node general-purpose shell, finite membrane strains

S4R

4-node shell, reduced integration, hourglass control, finite membrane strains

S4RS

4-node shell, reduced integration, hourglass control, small membrane strains

S4RSW

4-node shell, reduced integration, hourglass control, small membrane strains, warping considered in small-strain formulation

S4RT

4-node thermally-coupled shell, reduced integration, hourglass control, finite membrane strains

SAX1

2-node linear axisymmetric shell

SC6R

6-node triangular in-plane continuum shell wedge, general-purpose continuum shell, finite membrane strains.

SC8R

8-node quadrilateral in-plane general-purpose continuum shell, reduced integration with hourglass control, finite membrane strains.

SC6RT

6-node thermally coupled triangular in-plane continuum shell wedge, general-purpose continuum shell, finite membrane strains.

SC8RT

8-node thermally coupled quadrilateral in-plane general-purpose continuum shell, reduced integration with hourglass control, finite membrane strains.

SFM3D3

3-node triangular surface element

SFM3D4R

4-node quadrilateral surface element, reduced integration

SPRINGA

Axial spring between two nodes

T2D2

2-node linear 2D truss

T3D2

2-node linear 3D truss