OpenSees education is a passion, concern, and one of the ways to fund activities for the OpenSees community. We have divided our products into two categories: free and paid. Our free training materials are listed and linked in the OpenSeesWiki section. Paid OpenSees training is offered in two categories: the OpenSees training course (online courses) and the OpenSees training package (training videos). Both categories of training, free and paid, provide a comprehensive view of OpenSees topics.
OpenSeesWiki
If you are already familiar with us, you probably know that the OpenSees community considers creating and distributing free OpenSees training as a pleasurable task. This passion, enthusiasm, and energy ensure that our training materials are of high quality and rich in content. According to the users of the OpenSees community, the free OpenSees video tutorials provided here are truly unique in their kind. This content can familiarize you with various aspects of nonlinear analysis with OpenSees and its application in performance-based structural design.
Our goal is to gradually expand the range of topics in the OpenSees training section to cover all the subjects needed by our audience. For this reason, we have created a dedicated section called OpenSeesWiki, which provides an index and a communication map of all our free OpenSees training content. Unlike other sources that label their content as OpenSeesWiki, our training in this section does not merely include the format and syntax of OpenSees commands. Rather, it thoroughly introduces you to the nature, concepts, and applications of these commands. This section offers numerous OpenSees examples tailored to the specific topics covered.
Paid OpenSees Training
Despite the rich content available in the free OpenSees training section, with your financial support, the paid OpenSees training content on our site is deeper and contains more practical insights. Specifically, the content in our OpenSees training courses and OpenSees training packages has been repeatedly tested and updated with great attention to detail. Therefore, these training resources are exactly what you need to produce a Q1 paper using OpenSees.
Time may be important to you, and if you have developed enough familiarity and trust to join the paid courses, we recommend that you go directly to the OpenSees training courses section and start your journey towards publishing a paper with OpenSees right now. On the other hand, if you are still in the process of getting to know OpenSees, learning its methods, and planning your path, your current position is just right, and we will provide you with detailed information on this matter.
Where should I start?
To make the most of the free content in this section, we have outlined several steps for you, and we invite you to take these steps with us. Wherever you need guidance along the way, we are ready to respond as quickly as possible. Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask your question through the “Contact” section of the OpenSees website.
Step 1: Learning Method for OpenSees
This section serves as a roadmap for learning OpenSees. After viewing it and considering your goal, you can plan effectively to take advantage of both the free and paid educational resources at OpenSees House. The educational content in each section has a specific role in helping you achieve your ultimate goal, and by reviewing the overall roadmap, you can clearly understand how each part contributes to your success.
Step 2: Why OpenSees?
Understanding the “why” behind a subject provides us with foundational, lasting knowledge. The key to success in learning OpenSees lies in patience, genuine interest, and avoiding impulsive excitement. In this step, you’ll discover why OpenSees might be the right tool for your goals—or perhaps even realize that the reasons for choosing OpenSees may not fully apply to your specific needs.
- OpenSees or Abaqus?
- OpenSees or SAP?
- OpenSees or ETABS?
- OpenSees or Perform3D?
- OpenSees or SeismoStruct?
All of these are questions we address in this section. Our responses are based on information that will give you insight into the inner workings of finite element software.
Step 3: Basic OpenSees Training
Here, we reward your patience. We present the first free tutorial in simple language, starting from the basics and relying on practical examples.
We’ll start by providing an OpenSees installation package. After a few simple examples to illustrate the basic steps, we move on to modeling a moment frame in OpenSees—a foundational yet insightful example. As we go through the modeling steps together, you’ll build a solid understanding of the analysis methods in OpenSees. You’ll learn pushover analysis and time-history analysis in a fully conceptual and accessible way.
Our content stands out for its conceptual teaching approach to OpenSees. This way, you’ll never forget what you’ve learned and can apply it creatively in your work.
Step 4: Advanced OpenSees Training
After satisfying initial curiosity, it’s time to enrich the content and provide advanced OpenSees examples. The lessons in this section also begin with the foundational structural system, the “moment frame.” Gradually, you’ll become familiar with other systems as well.
Understanding how to model moment frames will make modeling various other structures much easier. In this section, you’ll practically test topics such as the difference between force-based and displacement-based formulations, the contrast between distributed plasticity and concentrated hinges, and much more.
Step 5: OpenSees Project Topic
The application of OpenSees in completing projects of scientific and even professional value is undoubtedly your ultimate goal. At this stage, you can achieve income, publish reputable scientific articles, build a research-focused resume, and develop skills in analysis and design, along with other successes. But how?
The answer to this question lies primarily in mastering and developing creative skills in working with OpenSees. All OpenSees training materials should ultimately aim to support this goal. After providing modeling tutorials in OpenSees, the next step is to introduce pathways for applying OpenSees in practice.
At OpenSees House, we share our experiences in conducting projects with OpenSees. Our expertise in this field is both extensive and varied, and our tutorials are rich and comprehensive. Be sure to follow the content in this section.
5-1 Training: Performance Assessment of Structures Using OpenSees
Performance-Based Structural Design Using OpenSees Consists of Two Key Steps:
- Performance Assessment
- Performance-Based Design
Performance assessment of structures with OpenSees can determine the performance of an existing structure based on predefined criteria. In contrast, performance-based design with OpenSees aims to determine structural specifications to optimize performance. One could argue that assessment is a component of design, though, in reality, the goal may sometimes be solely to evaluate a structure without necessarily finding a better one. OpenSees is utilized for analyzing and assessing the performance and behavior of structures.
5-2 Optimal Structural Design Training with OpenSees
Due to the unique perspective of optimization topics compared to other areas of structural performance evaluation, we have gathered these trainings in a separate section. At the foundational level, optimization methods assess your OpenSees model under elastic loads and verify compliance with code requirements. Using this tool alongside optimization algorithms helps you arrive at the best solution for your structural design.
Examining the characteristics of the optimal design obtained through an intelligent search process can be a means of discovering an innovative design approach. This perspective can guide us toward an optimal solution, even in the absence of an intelligent search algorithm.
5-3 Artificial Intelligence Training with OpenSees
Utilizing artificial intelligence alongside structural modeling represents another growing application category for OpenSees, attracting an increasing number of users. The primary goal of an AI study in this context is to systematically generate insights from the structural response data and apply this knowledge to predict the future responses of the structure.
5-4 Customizing OpenSees Training
As mentioned in various sections introducing OpenSees, the ability to customize its tools and features is one of the main reasons for choosing this software. Therefore, in this learning stage, we assist you in becoming one of the developers of OpenSees.
Appendix: Beyond OpenSees
Alongside these planned steps, we also offer content that, while impactful in the journey of learning OpenSees, does not specifically carry the name “OpenSees” in its title. The topics in this section serve to strengthen and complement the core OpenSees training materials.