Plotting OpenSees Tcl Output¶

OpenSees Tcl users can also take advantage of the plotting functions of vfo_for_tcl library. In order to do that, a Tcl script vfo_for_tcl.tcl to create an output database is used. First the user need to source vfo_for_tcl.tcl into the OpenSees tcl model file and then call the procedure to create an output database. This procedure does what createODB() does in vfo. Once the output database is created, users can call plot_model(), plot_modeshape(), plot_deformedshape() and animate_deformedshape() commands. Compatibility with other commands will be added in the next release.

Download the Tcl script here vfo_for_tcl.tcl.

createODB "ModelName" "LoadCaseName" Nmodes

`ModelName` (str)	Name of the model the user wants to save database with. Folder name will be ModelName_ODB
`LoadCaseName` (str)	`"none"` or `"LoadCaseName"`. Name of the subfolder to save load case output data.
`Nmodes` (int)	`0` or `Nmodes (int)`. Number of modes to be saved for visualization.

Note: To record modeshape data, this procedure utilizes an internal Eigenvalue analysis. Make sure your model is well defined to avoid errors.

Example: Here is a minimal example of how to use vfo_for_tcl.tcl.

# source the script in the beginning of the Tcl script.
source vfo_for_tcl.tcl

# create model here.
# define nodes, elements etc.
# Once the model definition is finished, call the procedure to record the first 3 modeshapes.
# When recording modeshapes, use "none" for the loadCaseName.

createODB "3DBuilding" "none"  3

# The above command will save all the data in a folder named "3DBuilding_ODB" and ...
# ... a sub-folder "Modeshapes".

# Now to record data from a dynamic loadcase, assign a name for load case folder and ...
# ... the number 0 to Nmodes to avoid performing Eigenvalue analysis again.

createODB "3DBuilding" "Dynamic" 0

# The above command will save the node displacement data to a sub-folder "Dynamic" in ...
# ... the "3DBuilding_ODB" folder.

Now open a python terminal or Jupyter notebook and type the following. Make sure you install the latest version of OpenSeesPy first. Or, put the following lines in a Python script and run.

import vfo.vfo as vfo

# render the model with node and element tags on it
vfo.plot_model(model="3D_Building",show_nodetags="yes",show_eletags="yes")

# plot mode shape 2 with a scale factor of 100
vfo.plot_modeshape(modenumber=1, scale=300, model="3D_Building")

# animate the deformed shape for dynaic analysis and save it as a 3DBuilding.mp4 file.
vfo.animate_deformedshape(model="3D_Building", loadcase="Dynamic_GM1", gifname="Building_Dynamic")

All figures are interactive and can be saved as a .png file from the plot window.