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2.6 SOFTWARE FOR DYNAMIC ANALYSIS

There is much software available today that will, among other things, perform dynamic
analyses of typical structural systems such as buildings, bridges, storage tanks, etc. These
computer programs are based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) for discretizing the
structure so as to produce a mathematical model which can then be used within the context of
numerical solution procedures. As one of the earlier programs that was once public domain
but in the last 15 years is commercially available, we mention the Structural Analysis
Program (SAP) (SAP 2000, 1997). This program is based on the doctoral work of E.L.
Wilson at the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1960s when large scale computer
implementation of the FEM started (Bathe, 1982). The list of computer programs is quite
extensive, and the interested reader is advised to consult current, general information journals
in civil engineering (Civil Engineering magazine of the ASCE; New Civil Engineer, magazine
of the Institution of Civil Engineers) where such software is advertised. In this respect, we
mention NASTRAN as one of the largest and most complete FEM packages available today,
while ST A AD/Pro, ANSYS, GT-STRUDL, LUSAS, LARSA, ETABS, IDARC-3D, etc., are
some of the better known structural analysis and design software packages in the market.
Finally, it is possible to download special purpose, structural dynamics software from the
Internet. As example, we mention the numerical integration program NONLIN (NONLIN,
1997) for the SDOF oscillator, which is capable of capturing material nonlinearity and
accessible through the MS Windows operating system.

2.7 REFERENCES

Anagnostopoulos, S.A., Theodoulidis, N.P., Lekidis, B.A., Margaris, B.N. (1986) ‘The Kalamata 1986
Earthquake’, Technical Report No. 86–2 (in Greek), Institute of Technical Seismology and
Earthquake Resistant Structures (ITSAK) Publication, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Argyris, I. and Mlejnek, H.P. (1991) Dynamics of Structures, North-Holland, Amsterdam.
Bathe, K.J. (1982) Finite Element Procedures in Engineering Analysis, Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ.
Biggs, J.M. (1965) Structural Dynamics, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Chopra, A.K. (1995) Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications to Earthquake Engineering,
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Civil Engineering, magazine of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1801 Alexander Bell Dr.,
Reston, Virginia, twelve monthly issues per year.
Clough, R. and Penzien, J. (1993) Dynamics of Structures, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Craig, R.R. (1981) Structural Dynamics, John Wiley, New York.
New Civil Engineer, magazine of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1 Great George Street, London,
twenty-five biweekly issues per year.
Newmark, N.M. and Rosenblueth, E. (1971) Fundamentals of Earthquake Engineering, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ.