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This paper presents a two‐dimensional corotational curved beam element for the dynamic analysis of curved viscoelastic beams with large deformations and rotations. In contrast with traditional straight beam elements, the novelty of the presented formulation lies in introducing a curved reference configuration, which follows the rotation and translation of a corotational frame, to measure the pure elastic deformation of the beam and describe the spatial position of an arbitrary material point. A curvilinear coordinate system is fixed on this reference configuration to measure the local deformation of the element. Based on Hamilton's principle, the global elastic force vector, the global internal damping force vector, the global inertia force vector, and the global external damping force vector are derived using the same shape functions to ensure the consistency and independence of the element. An accurate two‐node curved element and the Kelvin–Voigt model are introduced to consider the axial deformation, bending deformation, shear deformation, rotary inertia, and viscoelasticity of the beam. Three examples are given to verify the validity, computational accuracy, and computational efficiency of the presented formulation. Moreover, the effects of the internal damping and external damping on the dynamic response of a rotating curved beam are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dynamics of a planar curved beam subjected to moving loads or masses. • Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation for a corotational curved beam element. • Treatment of geometric nonlinearity and viscoelasticity of the beam. • Driving force for a prescribed motion of a mass along the beam. This paper presents an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation based on the consistent corotational method for the geometric nonlinear dynamic analysis of planar curved viscoelastic beams subjected to moving loads. In the ALE description, the beam nodes can be moved in arbitrarily specified ways to describe the moving loads' material positions accurately. The pure deformation and the deformation rate of the element are measured in a curvilinear coordinate system fixed on a curved reference configuration that follows the rotation and translation of a corotational frame. Based on Hamilton's principle, the global elastic force vector, the global internal damping force vector, the global inertia force vector, and the global external damping force vector are derived using the same shape functions to ensure the consistency and independence of the element. Then, a standard element can be embedded within the element-independent framework. An accurate two-node curved element and the Kelvin-Voigt model are introduced in this framework to consider the axial deformation, bending deformation, shear deformation, rotary inertia, and viscoelasticity of the beam. Three examples are given to verify the validity, computational efficiency, and versatility of the presented formulation. The effect of internal damping, external damping, the inertia force of a moving mass, and the moment of inertia of the mass on the dynamic response of the beam are investigated. Moreover, the driving force for a prescribed motion of a mass along the beam is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]