Commercial Applications for
Earthquake Engineering Simulation
Many earthquake engineering applications are best-solved by commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) software tools. These proprietary tools are
robust and reliable, and have been tested on the full range of
real-world problems via their extensive use in mechanical, automotive,
and aerospace engineering practice. For earthquake engineering
practitioners who require high-fidelity results and responsive
and knowledgeable technical support, commercial applications provide an
excellent means to gain accurate results that can be trusted on the job.
Most proprietary simulation tools listed here were originally developed
for mechanics applications such as virtual impact testing of
automobiles or laptop computers. Some of these commercial tools
demonstrate their mechanical engineering origins by requiring
substantial work to set up civil engineering problems (e.g., base
motions due to earthquake excitations), but all of them are capable of
accurate rendition of a wide variety of earthquake engineering problems.
ABAQUS
ABAQUS is one of the most
comprehensive finite element tools
available. The range of features of the ABAQUS software suite
runs the full gamut of computational analysis capabilities, including
implicit, explicit, and modal analysis; linear and nonlinear static and
transient capabilities, and multiphysics and multibody simulation
methods. One of the most important features of ABAQUS is its
extensible material models, which permits users to add new material
response modules to the core set of ABAQUS modeling capabilities, e.g.,
constitutive models for soils, concrete, and other materials of Civil
Engineering interest. Another important feature of ABAQUS is the
level of integration among the products that comprise this family, so
that ABAQUS tools offer "one-stop shopping" for a wide variety of
finite-element analysis needs.
URL's for ABAQUS Information
ADINA
ADINA includes a wide variety
of solution techniques for static and transient problems, including the
robust nonlinear analysis techniques that give this finite-element
toolkit its name (ADINA = Automatic Dynamic Incremental Nonlinear
Analysis). In addition to its considerable capabilities for
structural analysis, ADINA also permits fully-coupled
fluid-structure interaction simulations that are useful for tsunami
analyses. The ADINA system includes an incredible variety of
capabilities, such as integration with solids modeling applications,
visual pre- and post-processing tools, and features to support
multiphysics simulations involving coupled solid, fluid, and thermal
response.
URL's for ADINA Information
ANSYS
ANSYS is a popular commerical
finite-element package that supports solid, fluid, thermal, and
electromagnetic analysis, as well as various combinations of these
physical responses The ANSYS finite-element toolkit interfaces
with the LS-DYNA explicit dynamics code so that a full range of
implicit and explicit analysis capabilities are available to ANSYS
users. ANSYS supports many advanced finite-element techniques,
including both h- and p-element technology, an efficient suite of
scalable solution techniques that provide for sparse direct, parallel
frontal, and iterative solvers, robust contact/impact algorithms that
are required for many complex multibody and multicomponent analyses,
and a variety of nonlinear material models.
URL's for ANSYS Information
LS-DYNA
LS-DYNA is a robust and
capable
finite-element application from Livermore
Software Technology Corporation (LSTC). LS-DYNA has an wide range of
finite-element modeling capabilities for
high-fidelity engineering mechanics simulations, including nonlinear
dynamics
capabilities for analyzing structural frames, smooth-particle hydro and
meshless techniques appropriate for slope-stability problems in
geotechnical engineering, ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian) analysis
capabilities for large-deformation problems and fluid-structure
interactions, and normal mode integration for modal analysis of large
structures. LS-DYNA is highly scalable, and runs in parallel on
distributed-memory clusters of both Linux/Unix or Windows machines. It
includes an excellent visualization environment for problem setup and
graphical post-processing, as well as structural optimization
capabilities that are available within the separate LS-OPT application.
URL's for LS-DYNA Information
SAP2000
SAP2000 is a powerful
finite-element analysis tool for structural analysis and design.
It is one of the few general-purpose analysis tools that is
specifically designed for civil/structural settings, and its structural
engineering orientation makes it easy to use on a variety of practical
problems such as high-rise structures and bridges. SAP2000
includes features to handle the full range of structural analysis
problems in both the time and frequency domains, and can readily model
structural details such as isolation bearings, materials such as
structural steel, and loading details such as live loads on
bridges. SAP2000 also includes visual tools intended to aid in
problem setup and solution interpretation.
URL's for SAP2000 Information