Fifteen-node wedge element (C3D15)

The C3D15 element is a general purpose wedge element (9 integration points). The shape functions can be found in [1]. The node numbering follows the convention of Figure [*].

Figure: 15-node wedge element
\begin{figure}\epsfig{file=C3D15.eps,width=10cm}\end{figure}

The element behaves very well and is a good general purpose element, although the C3D20R element yields still better results for the same number of degrees of freedom. The wedge element is often used as fill element in “automatic” hexahedral meshers.