Sensitivity of beam-column element stiffness matrix to the crack parameters

In this article, a new cracked beam-column element stiffness matrix is proposed through static condensation method. Seven dimensionless coefficients are introduced and applied for a sensitivity analysis in different damage scenarios. The accuracy of this proposed stiffness matrix is verified, and compared to the other available methods. The variation of each stiffness component due to the conversion of crack parameters is assessed and shown in different graphs. This study reveals that cracking has a maximum stiffness reduction of 30 % in the beam-column elements with rectangular cross sections and the damaged elements remain stable until the crack depth is below 80 % of the section depth.