Just because OpenSees is open source does not mean it is a fully transparent box. This is mostly because documentation has lagged behind development. So, pessimists would say the box is semi-opaque while optimists would characterize it as semi-transparent. But a few parts of OpenSees are definitely housed in an opaque box. Take, for instance, … Continue reading Gimme All Your Damping, All Your Mass and Stiffness Too
Tag: OpenSees
More Is Not Always Better
I sometimes run across simulations where frame member response is computed using displacement-based beam-column elements with more than two Gauss points per element. These elements require at least two Gauss points to ensure a complete solution and to capture the exact solution for a linear-elastic, prismatic member. While it is well known that you can … Continue reading More Is Not Always Better
A Tale of Two Element Formulations
The question of whether to use the force-based or displacement-based formulation for material nonlinear frame analysis is one that comes up a lot. The answer depends on a few factors, mostly the material and the element length. To get a sense of the basic issues, I will compare the two element formulations with a numerical … Continue reading A Tale of Two Element Formulations
OpenSees Time Machine
I recently found two Zip disks in my office. They were the next big thing for about 15 minutes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I then got my hands on an external Zip drive and was able to offload the disks' contents. One disk has lecture notes and assignments from a few graduate … Continue reading OpenSees Time Machine
Behind the Elastic Interior
If VH1 expanded its list of the top one hit wonders of the 2000s to include journal articles in structural engineering, Scott and Fenves (2006) would be right up there with James Blunt and Gnarls Barkley. Actually, Google Scholar puts the article up there with some pretty nice company. Like all journal articles, there's something … Continue reading Behind the Elastic Interior
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
Is Plastic Hinge Integration a Fruit or a Vegetable?
If distributed plasticity elements are fruits and concentrated plasticity elements are vegetables, then plastic hinge integration is something like a tomato. Based on papers I've read, manuscripts I've reviewed, presentations I've seen, etc., there's some confusion as to whether plastic hinge integration is a fruit or a vegetable. Here's my two cents. Concentrated plasticity elements … Continue reading Is Plastic Hinge Integration a Fruit or a Vegetable?
