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A new finite element type, compound beam element, is derived for sandwich beam by considering the effects of both shear and thickness deformation in the adhesive layer. The new element type overcomes some limitations with the conventional finite element method, in which modal strain energy method is normally used for structural damping analysis. Modal strain energy method becomes quite inaccurate when the damping of the structure becomes high because it is always assumed that the structural modal shapes are real while actual modal shapes of the damped structures are quite complex. For achieving the best damping effect, the thickness of the damping layer is normally very thin, which requires great amount of elements in conventional finite element modeling to get a proper aspect ratio for accurate prediction. In compound beam element, all base beam layers and adhesive layer are modeled into a single element. The use of the element will result in significant simplification of sandwich beam modeling and dramatic reduction of element density while maintaining the desired accuracy. The use of the element also allows consideration of complex modulus of the adhesive material in the analysis and calculation of complex modal shapes of the damped structure.