Integrating OpenSees with other software - with application to coupling problems in civil engineering

Integration of finite element analysis (FEA) software into various software platforms is commonly used in coupling systems such as systems involving structural control, fluid-structure, wind-structure, soil-structure interactions and substructure method in which FEA is used for simulating the structural responses. Integrating an FEA program into various other software platforms in an efficient and simple way is crucial for the development and performance of the entire coupling system. The lack of simplicity of the existing integration methods makes this integration difficult and therefore entails the motivation of this study. In this paper, a novel practical technique, namely CS technique, is presented for integrating a general FEA software framework OpenSees into other software platforms, e.g., Matlab- $Simulink^{(R)}$ and a soil-structure interaction (SSI) system. The advantage of this integration technique is that it is efficient and relatively easy to implement. Instead of OpenSees, a cheap client handling TCL is integrated into the other software. The integration is achieved by extending the concept of internet based client-server concept, taking advantage of the parameterization framework of OpenSees, and using a command-driven scripting language called tool command language (TCL) on which the OpenSees' interface is based. There is no need for any programming inside OpenSees. The presented CS technique proves as an excellent solution for the coupling problems mentioned above (for both linear and nonlinear problems). Application examples are provided to validate the integration method and illustrate the various uses of the method in the civil engineering.