  In this paper, we propose a variationally consistent technique for decreasing
the maximum eigenfrequencies of structural dynamics related finite element
formulations. Our approach is based on adding a symmetric positive-definite
term to the mass matrix that follows from the integral of the traction jump
across element boundaries. The added term is weighted by a small factor, for
which we derive a suitable, and simple, element-local parameter choice. For
linear problems, we show that our mass-scaling method produces no adverse
effects in terms of spatial accuracy and orders of convergence. We illustrate
these properties in one, two and three spatial dimension, for quadrilateral
elements and triangular elements, and for up to fourth order polynomials basis
functions. To extend the method to non-linear problems, we introduce a linear
approximation and show that a sizeable increase in critical time-step size can
be achieved while only causing minor (even beneficial) influences on the
dynamic response.
