OpenSees Blogs Well

You know the active voice, where the subject performs an action. The graduate student analyzed the model. Here the subject is the graduate student. And you also know the passive voice, where the subject is affected by an action. The model was analyzed by the graduate student. Now the subject is the model. But do … Continue reading OpenSees Blogs Well →

Which Noun Are You Modifying?

Thanks to Google Scholar citation alerts, I see all the published articles that cite OpenSees. Most of the titles make no sense and on the rare occasion that a title looks interesting, I'll click the link and read the abstract. Today's citation alert delivered to my inbox an article whose title stood out, not for … Continue reading Which Noun Are You Modifying? →

The Old Code OpenSees

You have no doubt read grammatically correct sentences whose meaning you interpreted incorrectly. Only after re-reading did you realize the author's intent. For example, We modeled the walls with cracks. Your initial interpretation of this sentence could have been equivalent to "We used cracks to model the walls", which makes no sense and was not … Continue reading The Old Code OpenSees →

OpenSees Every Day

Using OpenSees as a direct object is common, e.g., "We used OpenSees to perform incremental dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete shear walls." That sentence was declarative and OpenSees was a noun. But OpenSees can also be a verb, in declarative and other types of sentences. Declarative I like to OpenSees every day. Interrogative Do you … Continue reading OpenSees Every Day →

It Hides in Plain Sight

It's no secret that engineers write technical documents in a style that no one would actually speak. Like, if I'm explaining plastic hinge integration to you in person, it would sound nothing like what's written in the journal article. It's difficult to measure the amount of nonsense in technical writing, but qualitatively, you know it … Continue reading It Hides in Plain Sight →

OpenSees Smarter, Not Harder

Having established the use of OpenSees as a verb, you knew adverbs that describe how one OpenSeeses wouldn't be far behind. For example: How did it go today?I OpenSeesed slowly. I had planned to build a frame model but got distracted by kitten videos. How was the workshop?It was good. I learned some useful tips … Continue reading OpenSees Smarter, Not Harder →

Verbing OpenSees

OpenSees--a system--is a noun. Nouns are often verbed. For example, "I will conference next week in Chicago." As a verb, "to OpenSees" is to build, analyze, program, or document finite element models in OpenSees. The standard verb tenses of "to OpenSees" are listed below. Present tense Simple present: I OpenSees every day. Present continuous: I … Continue reading Verbing OpenSees →