First-order, shear-deformable beam elements (B21, B31) should be used in any simulation that includes contact.

If the transverse shear deformation is important, use Timoshenko (quadratic) beam elements (B22, B32).

If the structure is either very rigid or very flexible, the hybrid beam elements (B21H, B32H, etc.) available in ABAQUS/Standard should be used in geometrically nonlinear simulations.

The Euler-Bernoulli (cubic) beams (B23, B33) available in ABAQUS/Standard are very accurate for simulations that include distributed loading, such as dynamic vibration analyses.

Structures with open, thin-walled cross-sections should be modeled with the elements that use open-section warping theory (B31OS, B32OS) available in ABAQUS/Standard.