An extended finite element model for structural analysis of cracked beam-columns with arbitrary cross-section

• An extended finite element model for structural analysis of cracked beam with arbitrary cross-section is introduced in this paper.
• The method is able to model a cracked beam with non-rectangular cross-section without using 3D finite elements.
• The method avoids limitations of previously developed theories of cracked beams.
• The presented results are reasonably close to the results found by the standard FEM and XFEM.
• Considerable reduction in computational efforts has been achieved by implementing the presented method.

In this paper, an efficient finite element model for the structural analysis of cracked beam-columns with arbitrary cross-sections is presented. For this propose the combination of a planar beam element with only displacement degrees of freedom and extended finite element method (XFEM) is used. This element is highly capable in modeling the effect of edge cracks on the structural behavior of beams under various loading and boundary conditions. The method is able to solve the problem related to cracked beams with non-rectangular cross-sections with much less computational efforts compared to the available extended finite element models. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the present method. There is a good agreement between the results obtained by the proposed method and those obtained by ABAQUS XFEM.