:D how can I get one section' displacement?

[huyuntian]

Hey everyone,

I have a simple question.
I know that I can use command like below to record certain section's deformation,

recorder Element -file xx.out -time -ele 1 section $i deformation

the sections are defined previously as one IntgrPts.

But how can I get one section' displacement?
I ask this question because i want to plot the element's deformed shape.

Thanks.

[fmk]

you cannot obtain it using recorders. if you are using displacement based elements you can calculate it directly knowing nodal displacements. this is not possible for the beam column element.

[huyuntian]

fmk wrote:
> you cannot obtain it using recorders. if you are using displacement based
> elements you can calculate it directly knowing nodal displacements. this is
> not possible for the beam column element.

Thanks for your kindly reply.
BTW, does Opensees have variable cross-section element?

[fmk]

yes .. for the force beam element you can provide different sections along the element length .. have a look at:
http://opensees.berkeley.edu/wiki/image ... nTypes.pdf