9th International Congress on Advances in Civil Engineering, 27-30 September 2010

Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey

ANSeismic – A Simple Assistant Computer Program for

Implementing Earthquake Analysis of Structures with ANSYS
and SAP2000

A. Şahin1
1
Department of Earthquake Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, abdurrahman.sahin@boun.edu.tr

Abstract
One of the main problems in time history analysis is the definition of a proper input and arranging the records for
different structural analysis programs. In the case of transient analyses, ground acceleration–time history data are
used for seismic analysis. Such time histories may be derived synthetically, by either numerical simulation of the
source and wave propagation mechanisms, or by considering proper stochastic models. The best way to evaluate
seismic performance of structures is monitoring structural behaviour under real earthquake records. Seismic
records from tectonically active regions throughout the world may be downloaded from PEER Strong Motion
Database. In this study, a simple assistant program is developed for implementing earthquake analyses of
structures with ANSYS and SAP2000. The seismic records are loaded from PEER and earthquake analysis files
are produced in ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL). Anyone who modeled a structure in ANSYS can
use the analysis files produced with ANSeismic by just calling them. ANSYS program may also be called from
ANSeismic if APDL file is available. Beside ANSYS, a SAP2000 time history data file may also be produced
with ANSeismic. This assistant program may be downloaded from MATLAB Central – An open exchange for
the MATLAB and Simulink user community. The possibilities of the program are demonstrated in this study. It
can be said that ANSeismic can be used as a tool in time history analysis of structures with ANSYS and
SAP2000 programs.

Keywords: Time History Analysis; Transient Analysis; ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL); SAP2000;
MATLAB.

1 Introduction
Time history analysis has not been widespread in traditional building design. In recent years, more time history
analysis come into the building engineering industry. Especially commercial computer programs become more
effective to implement time history analyses.

ANSYS (2007) is engineering simulation software founded by software engineer John Swanson. It has been
developed for general-purpose finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics. It offers a
comprehensive product solution for structural linear/nonlinear and dynamic analysis. ANSYS offers a complete
set of elements behavior, material models and equation solvers for a wide range of engineering problems.

ANSYS software is non exportable analysis tool incorporating pre-processing (geometry creation, meshing),
solver and post-processing modules in a graphical user interface. It is a general-purpose finite element modeling
package for numerically solving mechanical problems, including static/dynamic structural analysis (both linear
and non-linear), heat transfer and fluid problems, as well as acoustic and electro-magnetic problems.

Time history analysis is a part of structural analysis and is the calculation of the response of a structure to any
earthquake. It is one of the main processes of structural design in regions where earthquakes are prevalent.

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2 System Analysis in Batch Mode

In batch mode, a program is executed on a computer without manual intervention. In batch jobs, all input data is
preselected through scripts or command-line parameters. A set of data files are taken as input, data is processed,
and a set of output data files are produced by the program which is running in batch mode. This operating
environment is called as “batch processing. In this process, the input data are collected into batches on files and
are processed in batches by the program.

3 ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL)

APDL is the acronym of ANSYS Parametric Design Language. It is a scripting language which allows user to
automate general tasks and construct the structural model in terms of parameters. A wide range of other features
such as repeating a command, macros, if-then-else branching, do-loops, and scalar, vector and matrix operations
are included in APDL. It also offers many conveniences that can be used in particular analyses for structural
engineers.

APDL variables are similar to MATLAB variables. It is not necessary to explicitly declare the parameter type.
All numeric values (whether integer or real) are accumulated as double-precision values. Two types of
parameters are used in ANSYS. These are scalar and array parameters. Several types of array parameters are also
provided by APDL. These are numeric, character, string and table.

4 Modeling of Material Damping

The behaviour of damping material is an important measure for vibration in engineering. The analysis results on
vibration analysis are very sensitive to the description of damping properties.

The damping matrix [ C ] in ANSYS may be used in harmonic, damped modal and transient analysis as well as
substructure generation. In its most general form, it is (Cai et al. 2002):

N mat N ele

[C] = α [ M ] + β [ K ] + ∑ β j ⎡⎣ K j ⎤⎦ + βc [ K ] + ⎡⎣Cζ ⎤⎦ + ∑ Ck (1)

j =1 k =1

where
α : constant mass matrix multiplier
β : constant stiffness matrix multiplier
βj : constant stiffness matrix multiplier – material dependent damping.
βc : variable stiffness matrix multiplier
ζ : constant damping ratio
f : frequency in the range between beginning frequency and end frequency
⎡⎣Cζ ⎤⎦ : frequency-dependent damping matrix
[ Ck ] : element damping matrix

The most common form of damping is the so-called Rayleigh type damping [ C ] = α [ M ] + β [ K ] . The advantage
of this representation is that the matrix becomes in modal coordinates (Cai et al. 2002),

C = αI + βΛ (2)

C is diagonal. So for the r th mode, the equation of motion ( mx

&& + ceq x& + kx = f ( t ) ) can be uncoupled. Each one
is of the form (Cai et al. 2002)

q r + ( α + βω2r ) q& r + ω2r q r = Q r

&& (3)

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If the following statement is substituted in eq. (3),

2ζ mr ωr = ( α + βω2r ) (4)

The eq. (3) is obtained as follows:

q r + 2ζ mr ωr q& r + ω2r q r = Q r
&& (5)

where ζ mr is the r th modal damping ratio (Cai et al. 2002).

The values of α and β are not generally known directly, but are calculated from modal damping ratios,
ζ mr . It is the ratio of actual damping to critical damping for a particular mode of vibration ( r ). The following
statement is obtained from the eq. (4) (Cai et al. 2002):

α β
ζ mr = + ωr (6)
2ωr 2

5 Seismic Analysis in ANSYS

Although ANSYS may be used to implement step by step time history analysis, it is not so easy to achieve it
from the graphical user interface. A particular tool for seismic analysis is not available in ANSYS. Therefore, a
special solution should be developed to implement seismic analysis. For this purpose, a simple assistant program
called as ANSeismic has been developed. The flowchart developed to implement seismic analysis with ANSYS
is presented in Figure 1. As shown in this figure, firstly structural system including element type, material
properties, meshing and boundary conditions is constructed in ANSYS by using GUI or APDL. Then, the APDL
code of the model is exported for post processing. This code is used in batch mode analysis. The earthquake data
loading system is developed suitable to PEER earthquake database system. The earthquake record may be
downloaded from Peer Strong Motion Database (Url-1). The damping value and earthquake load direction are
introduced to the system. Firstly modal analysis is executed and the frequency value of the first vibration mode
is saved. The α and β coefficients for Rayleigh damping are calculated by using this value. Then, the time
history analysis is executed by applying each acceleration value to the model step by step.

ANSeismic program is developed in MATLAB (2009) depending on the explained algorithm. The main window
of the program is shown in Figure 2. As it can be seen from this figure, any earthquake data may be applied to
the system. The earthquake data loading system is developed suitable to PEER earthquake database system. The
time interval, time limit and the data are extracted from the PEER file which has .AT2 extension. A link is added
to the system for easily reaching to PEER web database. The loaded earthquake data may be limited depending
on the user choice. In general, whole seismic record may not be applied to the structure because of the memory
size economy of the computer. The dominant part of the record may be selected by checking the peak point of
the data. The earthquake load direction and damping ratio is introduced to the system in “Options’ part. In
“Analysis” part, seismic analysis documents for SAP2000 (2009) and ANSYS may be created. In this part, the
produced SAP2000 data is only seismic record. This data may be easily called from SAP2000 and seismic
analysis may be executed.

For ANSYS, there are two different options. In the first option, the user creates the structural model in ANSYS
by using GUI. The user doesn’t have to export APDL log file of the model. In ANSeismic, the earthquake load is
downloaded from PEER and the analysis parameters are selected. Then, “Create ANSYS File” button is selected
and the APDL code for seismic analysis and the formatted seismic record is created. These files are copied to
ANSYS working directory and then the created APDL file is applied to the system in ANSYS by selecting
“File” and “Read Input From…” menus. Then the seismic analysis starts.

In the second option, the user constructs the system by using GUI or APDL and exports the APDL log file of the
model. The earthquake load is downloaded from PEER and the analysis parameters are selected. Then, “Create
ANSYS Log” button is selected and the embedded APDL code for completely modeling and analyzing the
structure and the formatted seismic record is created. These files are copied to ANSYS working directory and
then the created APDL file is applied to the system in ANSYS by selecting “File” and “Read Input From…”
menus. Then the model is automatically created and seismic analysis starts.

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Figure 1. ANSeismic general flowchart developed to implement time history analysis in ANSYS

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Figure 2. ANSeismic Program main window

6 Numerical Application

As an application, a three-storey building subjected to the acceleration–time histories, recorded during 1995
Kobe Earthquake is considered. KJM-UP component of 16 January 1995 Kobe earthquake is chosen for the
analysis. The seismic record is presented in Figure 3. The analyses are carried out with ANSYS software by
considering a constant time integration step equal to 0.002 s. The damping ratio of the model is chosen as 5 %.

The seismic analysis code developed for running in APDL is produced by ANSeismic as shown in Figure 4. A
seismic record text file is also created and the acceleration records multiplied by gravity load is saved in this file.
This text file is called by the main analysis file shown in Figure 4. In the left rectangular window, the code is
generated to implement time history analysis with default coefficients. In the right rectangular window, firstly
modal analysis is carried out, the natural frequency of the model is obtained and the α and β coefficients are
produced depending on damping ratio and natural frequency of the system.

Figure 3. KJM-UP component of 1995 Kobe Earthquake (KJMA Station)

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Figure 4. APDL Seismic analysis codes produced for implementing KJM-UP component of 1995 Kobe
Earthquake

The analysis codes given in Figure 4 may be called in ANSYS GUI as a text file or may be directly written in
command area. As an alternative solution, The APDL file of the structural system may be called with
ANSeismic and the earthquake analysis may be implemented in batch mode. The deformed shapes of the
structure at peak ground acceleration (PGA) times are given in Figures 5-6. The deformed shape at max. peak
acceleration is given in Figure 5 and the deformed shape at min. peak acceleration is given in Figure 6.

Figure 5. The deformed shape of the structure at max. PGA time (7.74 s)

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Figure 6. The deformed shape of the structure at min. PGA time (8.22 s)

The earthquake data file for SAP2000 may also be produced with ANSeismic. The source data is converted to a
time and earthquake data which is suitable to be called in SAP2000 program. The earthquake data is multiplied
by gravity load.

7 Conclusion
In this study, a new assistant program developed for earthquake analyses of structures with ANSYS and
SAP2000 is demonstrated. The developed program is named as ANSeismic. The seismic records are loaded from
Peer Strong Motion Database and earthquake analysis files are produced in ANSYS Parametric Design
Language (APDL). The structural models constructed in ANSYS may be analyzed by just loading the analysis
file developed with ANSeismic. ANSYS program may also be run by ANSeismic in batch mode if APDL file is
available. SAP2000 time history source data file may also be produced with ANSeismic. The possibilities of the
program are demonstrated in this study. ANSeismic program is free software and can be used as a tool in time
history analysis of structures by researches. It can be downloaded from MATLAB Central – An open exchange
for the MATLAB and Simulink user community (Url-2).

References
ANSYS Finite Element Analysis System. (2007). SAS IP, Inc., U.S.
C. Cai, H. Zheng, M. S. Khan and K. C. Hung (2002). Modeling of Material Damping Properties in ANSYS,
CADFEM Users´ Meeting & ANSYS Conference, Friedrichshafen, Germany, October 9-11,
MATLAB. (2009). The MathWorks, Natick, MA.
SAP2000. (2009). Computers and Structures Inc., University Avenue, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Url-1 : http://peer.berkeley.edu/smcat/
Url-2 : http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/27401