Dynamic viscoelastic beam model for finite element method

A finite element formulation is presented for the viscoelastic dynamic responses of Euler-Bernoulli beams. A time-stepping procedure based on Newmark's method is employed. The changes in creep strain during a time step are treated as additional fictitious body forces for the next time step. A uniaxial Norton-type strain-hardening material law is employed. The aims of the proposed formulation are model simplicity, efficiency of the solution procedure, and ease of application. Quasi-static and dynamic viscoelastic responses for beams under quasistatic and earthquake motion are obtained. The results are compared with existing alternate solutions to demonstrate the validity of the present work