In this paper, a three-dimensional beam element is developed for geometric nonlinear dynamical analysis. This element is based on the co-rotational formulation, in which the displacements of beam element are subdivided into rigid body movements and elastic deformations. The formulations are derived from the continuum mechanics based Updated Lagrangian incremental equations. The element can undergo large deflections and rotations, but small strains are assumed in the deduction. The validity of this element is confirmed by comparing with the numerical results in other literatures.