ABAQUS has an extensive library of elements that can be used for a wide range of structural applications. Element type has important consequences affecting the accuracy and efficiency of your simulation.

The degrees of freedom active at a node depend on the element types attached to the node.

The element name completely identifies the element's family, formulation, number of nodes, and type of integration.

All elements must refer to an element property option. The element property option provides any additional data required to define the geometry of the element and also identifies the associated material property definition.

For continuum elements ABAQUS defines the element output variables, such as stress and strain, with respect to the global Cartesian coordinate system. You can change to a local coordinate system by using the *ORIENTATION option.

For three-dimensional shell elements ABAQUS defines the element output variables with respect to a coordinate system based on the surface of the shell. You can change the coordinate system by using the *ORIENTATION option.

For computational efficiency any part of a model can be defined as a rigid body, which has degrees of freedom only at its reference node.

As a method of constraint, rigid bodies are computationally more efficient than multi-point constraints.

Hourglassing can be caused by concentrated forces, boundary conditions, or contact acting at a single node. Refining the mesh and distributing the forces or constraints between several nodes often can prevent the problem.