In this lecture, we will cover the following:

• How to initialise a fresh OpenSeesPy model,
• How to create nodes from the shell mesh geometry,
• We will apply restraints and define the material and shell section properties,
• We will add shell elements using the same mesh connectivity as the custom solver,
• We will apply loads and run a static OpenSeesPy analysis.

We begin by wiping any existing OpenSeesPy model and defining a new model with the required dimensions and degrees of freedom. From there, we create the nodes using the mesh coordinates already prepared in the previous lecture and we apply restraints at the appropriate node tags. This ensures the OpenSeesPy structure is built from the same physical and geometric information as our custom solver.

Then we define the material and shell section properties before we loop through the mesh connectivity to create the shell elements. After the elements are in place, we apply the loading pattern, configure the static analysis procedure, and run the model. A visual check using the OpenSeesPy model data helps confirm that the geometry and boundary conditions have been assembled correctly before any detailed result extraction takes place.

Next up

In the next lecture, we will pull displacement and reaction results out of the completed OpenSeesPy model and repackage them for comparison.