Seismicae -- a Computer-Aided Engineering Tool for Performance and Risk Assessment of Building Structures Through Numerical Simulation Using Opensees

Abstract eng:
OpenSees is a numerical-simulation framework capable of modeling large structural and geotechnical systems as well as easily manage large number of simulations of such structures. Structural engineers in the profession, however, have been reluctant to use it because of its lack of an integrated graphical user interface (GUI). While visualization via a GUI is critical in building and validating a numerical model, it limits the efficiency of building complex models. SeismiCAE is ComputerAided Engineering tool with a user interface (UI) developed to address these limitations by integrating a graphical interface (useful for visualization) with a scripting interface for numerical simulation in OpenSees. The scripting interface is critical in enabling the user to include programming features into the building of the model and analysis procedures. The programming features, such as logical statements and array manipulation, allow more control in the generation of multiple variation of a model, ease in modifying the model, and efficiency in running large numbers of simulations. In addition, SeismiCAE includes a library of commands that simplify the model input by using a format that is more intuitive to an engineer than the basic OpenSees commands. Because SeismiCAE runs OpenSees in the background, model-building and simulation runs can be executed interactively or via scripting models. The structural response can be visualized in real time during the analysis. The post-processing features of SeismiCAE also allow interactive visualization of results. Because of its ability to handle large numbers of simulations, a risk-analysis module is currently being developed for SeismiCAE to handle Risk-Assessment analyses.

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