OpenSees Legacy Apps on DesignSafe

OpenSees Legacy Apps on DesignSafe#

Application-Specific Legacy OpenSees Tapis Apps

DesignSafe has long provided the following OpenSees-specific Tapis apps, each targeting a particular execution mode:

  • OpenSeesEXPRESS – sequential (single-core) OpenSees

  • OpenSeesMP – MPI-based parallel OpenSees

  • OpenSeesSP – distributed-processing OpenSees

  • OpenSeesPy – Python-based OpenSees workflows (NEW!)

These apps are:

  • Simple to understand

  • Purpose-built

  • Well suited for early adoption

  • Highly approachable for new HPC users

Each app wraps a familiar OpenSees execution pattern and hides the complexity of SLURM, file staging, and environment setup.

That simplicity is intentional — and valuable.

Where These Apps Run#

  • OpenSeesMP, OpenSeesSP, and OpenSeesPy run on Stampede3, submitted through the SLURM scheduler.

  • OpenSeesEXPRESS runs on a virtual machine, bypassing the HPC queue and typically starting immediately.

This distinction reflects historical usage patterns and resource needs rather than architectural preference.

Why These Apps Exist — and Their Limits#

From a user perspective, these apps work very well.

From a developer perspective, however, they all do essentially the same thing:

  • Stage input files

  • Configure an execution environment

  • Generate a SLURM job

  • Launch an executable

  • Collect outputs

The differences between them are largely:

  • which executable is run

  • how MPI is invoked

  • how many resources are requested

Maintaining many nearly identical apps:

  • duplicates logic

  • increases maintenance cost

  • makes it harder to add new features consistently

  • slows innovation

As DesignSafe workflows matured, this model became unsustainable.

The OpenSeesPy App: A Transitional Step#

The OpenSeesPy app deserves special mention.

It was developed as a bridge:

  • to support Python-based workflows

  • to align with existing OpenSees app conventions

  • to ease early adoption of OpenSeesPy on HPC

Architecturally, however:

OpenSeesPy is a strict subset of what the agnostic app can do.

It exists for consistency and continuity — not because it represents a fundamentally different execution model.

Contents