Seismo-VLAB: An open-source finite element software for seismic meso-scale simulations

We present Seismo-VLAB (SVL), a new open-source, object-oriented finite element software designed to optimize meso-scale simulations in the context of structural and geotechnical engineering. To this end, state-of-the-art tools and parallel computing capabilities required for efficient modeling of soil–structure interaction and wave propagation in heterogeneous half-spaces are included. For example, perfectly matched layer, domain reduction method, dynamic nonlinear solvers, cutting edge parallel linear system solvers, domain decomposition method, and a series of plasticity models are some of the features available in SVL. In this work, we present the numerical implementation and software structure so enthusiastic developers can contribute to this open-source project and showcase some software capabilities using an illustrative example. •Seismo-VLAB is an open-source finite element software.•Seismo-VLAB provides a simple and extendable object-oriented design.•Seimo-VLAB is suitable for wave propagation problems in heterogeneous media.•Seismo-VLAB is suitable for linear and nonlinear analyses of soil structure interaction problems.•Seismo-VLAB can be accelerated using OpenMP and MPI parallel computing capabilities.•The design of Seismo-VLAB makes the simulation of sophisticated finite element models straightforward.