This paper presents an efficient modeling and dynamic analysis method for open cracked beam structures. An equivalent bending spring model is introduced to represent the structural weakening effect in the presence of cracks. The proposed method adopts the exact dynamic element method (EDEM) to avoid the inconvenience and numerical errors in association with re-meshing the structural model with the crack position changed. The proposed modeling method is validated through a series of simulation and experiments. First, the proposed method is rigorously compared with a commercial finite element code. Then, two kinds of experiments are performed to validate the proposed modeling method. Finally, a diagnostic scheme fur open cracked beam structures is proposed and demonstrated through a numerical example.