A robust finite element procedure for modelling the localised fracture of reinforced concrete beams at elevated temperatures is developed. In this model a reinforced concrete beam is represented as an assembly of 4-node quadrilateral plain concrete, 3-node main reinforcing steel bar, and 2-node bond-link elements. The concrete element is subdivided into layers for considering the temperature distribution over the cross-section of a beam. An extended finite element method (XFEM) has been incorporated into the concrete elements in order to capture the localised cracks within the concrete. The model has been validated against previous fire test results on the concrete beams. regular strain–displacement transformation matrix enhanced strain–displacement transformation matrix material constitutive matrix of plain concrete element internal force vector enhanced element internal force vector regular element internal force vector element internal force vector corresponding to traction fracture energy of concrete enhanced element stiffness matrix regular element stiffness matrix element stiffness matrix corresponding to traction tangent stiffness of traction–separation relation traction within the cracks sign function vector of continuous displacement field vector of discontinuous displacement field enhancement function 
An extended finite element model for modelling localised fracture of reinforced concrete beams in fire