A multifiber Timoshenko beam with embedded discontinuities

•Fast and efficient structure failure analysis method is proposed.•Method for modeling crack opening related to damage in frame structures.•Enhanced multifiber beam using Strong Discontinuity approach.•Failure analysis of a reinforced concrete frame. An enhanced high order multifiber Timoshenko beam is introduced to simulate structural behavior up to failure. The beam is displacement based and geometrically linear, its section can be of arbitrary shape and a local constitutive law is assigned to each fiber. The Strong Discontinuity Approach is adopted to enhance the displacement field of the fibers to describe crack openings. The material behaviour at the discontinuity is characterized by a linear cohesive law linking the axial stress and the displacement jump. The variational formulation is presented in the context of the incompatible modes method and details are given on the corresponding computational procedure and the numerical integration of the constitutive laws. The simulation of the non linear behavior of a cantilever beam structure and of a reinforced concrete frame are provided to illustrate the performance of the novel enhanced high order multifiber Timoshenko beam.