In this paper, free vibration analysis of damaged functionally graded beams based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is carried out. In this regard, a new model of springs is introduced to model the damaged elements of the beam. The proposed model is achieved from stress resultants. The springs equations for homogeneous and functionally graded (FG) beams are presented; furthermore, equations for equivalent springs are also provided which can be used for both homogeneous and FG beams. The proposed method can be applied for the analysis of structures with fewer computation costs and high accuracy. To show the accuracy of the proposed model, the natural frequencies of the beams with real elements and the ones which are modeled by the proposed springs are compared considering various support conditions. Good agreement has been observed. Thereafter, the model is used to detect the damaged elements. The result shows that the model can properly detect the damage location. Manuscript profile