Welcome to the May 2026 edition of OpenSees Digital Digest, a monthly summary of content published at OpenSees Digital. The unofficial theme for this month has been verification, ranging from fundamental benchmark problems to workflows that automate verification across larger problem sets. Insert Assertion Here - Demonstrates how assertions can be applied to more than … Continue reading OpenSees Digital Digest – May 2026 →

Over six years in and 430 posts down, the blog is moving along in various directions--perhaps orthogonal to previous directions, which is not a bad thing. But what are those previous directions? To help answer that question, I compiled a list of the 30 most read posts over the blog's lifetime. All but one of … Continue reading Evergreen OpenSees Content →

I have posted modeling challenges where I describe a model and loading then ask for a specific response quantity. Usually, the model is linear-elastic, e.g., strongback frame, Ziemian frame, and soil-bridge SSI, so the challenge is building the model and the ensuing analysis is straightforward. But what if I gave you an already built model, described the loading, … Continue reading Analyze This →

When I ask for a minimal working example, I often receive responses that are the opposite of minimal and working, i.e., maximal or broken, in some cases reaching new lows. The following situations can be categorized as MBEs (maximal broken examples), i.e., not a minimal working example. 1. An Example from Your Journal Article I … Continue reading The Maximal Broken Example →

If there's one thing this blog excels at, it's simple, minimal examples. Yeah, sometimes too minimal and other times too simple--or both. But, when I have a problem with OpenSees, I make a minimal example to be sure I understand the issue. Usually, the issue is me, not OpenSees. You say OpenSeesPy is 2-3 times … Continue reading Show Me Don’t Tell Me →

OpenSees contains sophisticated solution algorithms and element and constitutive models for simulating the nonlinear response of structural and geotechnical systems to natural and human-made hazards. But sometimes these sophisticated models are put to less than sophisticated use. I've been kicking this idea around in my head for a while, but what xykademiqz wrote in a … Continue reading Will OpenSees Ever Be Un-Seen? →

Will Write for Food, a popular book in the food blogging world, is a play on the canonical "Will Work for Food" signs that panhandlers display at busy intersections. Although the food blogging world is over saturated, the OpenSees blogging world is not. Will I OpenSees for food? The answer to that question is open … Continue reading Will Write for OpenSees →