Fiber Section Centroids

If you define a fiber-discretized cross section in OpenSees using section coordinate systems A and B shown below, will you get the same response when you apply axial load and bending moments to the sections? The answer is yes. You will get the same response from sections A and B. The fiber sections compute the … Continue reading Fiber Section Centroids →

Hysteretic Pinching Parameters

I receive a lot of questions about the pinching parameters for the HystereticMaterial in OpenSees. Despite the best of intentions, one-off responses to these queries often went unanswered. But now, with the blog, a one-off response has staying power. So, here goes. The HystereticMaterial dates back to the G3 days. Along with Steel01 and Concrete01, … Continue reading Hysteretic Pinching Parameters →

Uniaxial Multi-Tool

Uniaxial, or one-dimensional, material models are the work horses of OpenSees. Originally developed for the truss element, these models have proliferated thanks to fiber section models. However, because they are simply scalar functions, UniaxialMaterial models can be used in several other contexts. The calling function knows the context, not the UniaxialMaterial model--it only provides an … Continue reading Uniaxial Multi-Tool →

Fibers of Higher Dimensions

When we talk about fiber sections in OpenSees, we often refer to Bernoulli sections where each fiber is in a state of uniaxial stress. This approach captures axial-moment interaction, which is important for reinforced concrete columns, whose cross-sections are defined using patch and layer commands. Those same patch and layer commands can be used for … Continue reading Fibers of Higher Dimensions →

Discarded Wrappers

In writing a previous post on material wrappers available in OpenSees, I knew there was a wrapper that never made it into cvs, svn, or GitHub. I thought it was no big deal and decided to let it go. Then, looking back at some previous work on SSI in developing this modeling challenge, I re-discovered … Continue reading Discarded Wrappers →

There’s a Wrapper for That

Many publications describe software design patterns for reusing object-oriented software. The most widely read book on design patterns is so influential that it has its own Wikipedia page. In this book, the "Gang of Four" offers two guiding principles for software design patterns. The first principle is to program to an interface, not an implementation, … Continue reading There’s a Wrapper for That →

Close to the Edge

A colleague in Eastchester tweeted this graphic, created by Stephen Ressler. It's a fun interpretation of social distancing, but a little abstract compared to other, more concrete, guidelines going around. For example, in Florida, the rule of thumb is to maintain a distance equal to an adult alligator length. You can visualize an alligator, but … Continue reading Close to the Edge →

The Fiber Content of OpenSees

Although fiber sections are not unique to OpenSees, where else can you choose from 23 uniaxial concrete models and 18 uniaxial steel models to define a reinforced concrete section? There's also a handful of multiaxial material models that capture the interaction of axial and shear stresses in beam fibers, as well as fiber models for … Continue reading The Fiber Content of OpenSees →

An Update of the IMK Models

Hysteretic models include several parameters that can be fit to a variety of physical phenomena known to occur in steel and reinforced concrete members under cyclic loading. I did my Ph.D. in the Bay Area, but not at The Farm. Accordingly, I'm more of a fiber section aficionado--but I get the appeal of hysteretic models. … Continue reading An Update of the IMK Models →

Torsion with Fiber Sections

I won't blog about every pull request to OpenSees on GitHub, but I will blog about pull requests that could affect backward compatibility of user scripts. Pull request #142 is one such case. It affects how torsion is added to fiber sections in three-dimensional models. The frame elements require torsional stiffness in order to prevent … Continue reading Torsion with Fiber Sections →