Isoparametric element Generally it is very difficult to represent the curved boundaries by straight edge elements. A large number of elements may be used to obtain reasonable resemblance between original body and the assemblage. In order to overcome this drawback, isoparametric elements are used. If the number of nodes used for defining the geometry is same as number of nodes used defining the displacements, then it is known as isoparametric element.

Superparametric element If the number of nodes used for defining the geometry is more than number of nodes used for defining the displacements, then it is known as superparametric element.

Subparametric element If the number of nodes used for defining the geometry is less than number of nodes used for defining the displacements, then it is known as subparametric element.