A general finite element for beams or beam‐columns with or without an elastic foundation

Abstract A general finite element is derived for beams or beam‐columns with or without a continuous Winkler type elastic foundation. The need to discretize members into shorter elements for convergence towards an ‘exact’ solution is eliminated by employing in the derivation of the element exact shape functions obtained from the equation of the elastic line. Inter‐nodal values of deflections, bending moments and shear forces are obtained using …