CU-BENs: A structural modeling finite element library

CU-BEN serial version is a nonlinear static and transient dynamic finite element analysis software for structural applications. It supports truss, frame, and discrete Kirchhoff theory (DKT) shell elements. In addtion, CU-BENs also includes built-in, linear acoustic fluid-structure interaction analysis capability.

Build instructions (Mac OS X)

Please follow the guidelines below for building CU-BENs on Mac OS X.

Prerequisites:

• Mac OS X >= 10.10
• Xcode >= 9.0.0
• Suitesparse 5.6.0

Steps:

1. Type the following commands in terminal to install necessary packages (Xcode and Suitesparse):
   • Install Xcode:

     xcode-select --install

   • To install Suitesparse via command line, you would first need to check whether the package Homebrew is installed by running the following:

     which brew

   • If Homebrew isn't already installed, run the following command to install Homebrew:

     /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"

   • Type the following commands to install suite-sparse:

     brew tap homebrew/science
     brew install suite-sparse

2. Set up a folder where CU-BENs will be built. In this case, CU-BENs will be installed on your desktop:

    cd Desktop

   • Clone CU-BENs from Github repository:

    git clone https://github.com/nonlinearfun/CU-BENs.git

   Note: make sure you have Git installed. You can install Git by running:

   brew install git

3. Build CU-BENs:

   cd CU-BENs
   Make all

Build instructions (Ubuntu)

Please follow the guidelines below for building CU-BENs on Ubuntu.

Prerequisites:

• Ubuntu >= 14.04
• Suitesparse

Steps:

1. Run the following commands to update the apt-get cache:

   sudo apt-get update -y

2. Install Suitesparse:

   sudo apt-get -y libsuitesparse-dev

3. Set up a folder where CU-BENs will be built. In this case, CU-BENs will be installed on your desktop:

   cd Desktop

   • Clone CU-BENs from Github repository:

   git clone https://github.com/nonlinearfun/CU-BENs.git

   Note: make sure you have Git installed. You can install Git by running:

   sudo apt-get install git -y

4. Build CU-BENs:

   cd CU-BENs
   Make all

A detailed overview of CU-BENs as well as the theory behind the finite element formulation can be found in the tutorial and theory manual, Introduction to CU-BEN and CUBENs theory manual. Sample input files are provided under the Sample_Input_Files directory to exercise the diifferent built-in functions within CU-BENs. Sample input file model_def_5d_shell.txt is used to exercise the restart function within CU-BENs. Please be sure you have ran model_def_5c_shell.txt in advance.