Semirigid Frame with spring and damper

[nibomilad]

Hi everybody

I want to model a Semirigid 2-D frame with springs and dampers in Opensees, I realized that I can use Truss element or Maxwell Material. Can you let me know for modeling spring and damper is it better to model them in parallel or in series?

Thank you

[fmk]

as for a MAxwell model in a truss element. create the material model with a tag and pass this tag to the truss element. i suggest you look at the examples, here is a simple truss example:
http://opensees.berkeley.edu/wiki/index ... ss_Example

As for the question in whether series or parallel, both work. they are different models and which to use is up to you. Connecting a spring and damper in series yields a model of a Maxwell material while connecting a spring and damper in parallel yields a model of a Kelvin–Voigt model.