Section
Lesson learned
- 08
Lesson learned · Seismic
Rayleigh with a fixed β: every model in your database gets different damping
Copying the same damping coefficient into every model looks neutral, but it is not: a flexible structure ends up with 1.5% and a stiff one with 5%. I explain where that comes from and how to fix it.
3 min read
- 07
Lesson learned · OpenSees
My OpenSees database would not reproduce: the material remembered the previous model
I reran 20 analyses with the same code and the same inputs, and none matched. The cause was a material that keeps memory between models when they run in the same Python process. The fix is one line.
3 min read
- 04
Lesson learned · OpenSees
dispBeamColumn or forceBeamColumn: the element that moves your shear by 56%
OpenSees lets you model a column with two element types that look equivalent. Against a real test, one got the shear within 1% and the other overshot by 56%. I explain why, starting from the basic idea.
3 min read