2.3. Backend Applications

The backend applications are categorized by function into the following workflow modules which create and populate intermediate files used to propagate information from one component application to the next. The modules and their intermediate files are as follows:

  1. Building Applications - create the BIM files for every building asset, containing building properties.

  2. Regional Mapping Applications - map an intensity measure (IM) or time series for the hazard event to each building asset site.

  3. Event Applications - create the EVENT files for every building asset, containing loads corresponding to the hazard event(s).

  4. Modeling Applications - create the Structural Analysis Model (SAM) files for every building asset, containing structural model parameters.

  5. Engineering Demand Parameter (EDP) Applications - create the EDP files for every building asset, containing expected response outputs of the structural model.

  6. Simulation (SIM) Applications - create the SIM files for every building asset, containing analysis settings for response simulation.

  7. Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) Applications - execute all steps in the workflow, with the option to quantify uncertainty with experiments using random variables.

  8. Damage and Loss (DL) Applications - estimate expected damages and losses from the EDP application’s output.

These applications constitute the “backbone” of SimCenter workflow systems, with each one calling on a different subset of the component applications.