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

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

Euler-Bernoulli (cubic) beams (B23, B33) are very accurate for simulations that include distributed loading, such as dynamic vibration analyses. If the transverse shear deformation is also important, use Timoshenko (quadratic) beam elements instead (B22, B32).

Structures with open, thin-walled cross-sections should be modeled with elements that use open-section warping theory (B31OS, B32OS).