Interactive Structural Analysis and Design

Gennaro Senatore has developed a suite of interactive applications to support the teaching of structural mechanics and design across educational levels, from secondary school to graduate studies. These tools - PushMePullMe 2D and PushMePullMe 3D - have been adopted by educators to broaden access to structural principles through active and game-based learning.

PushMePullMe 2D is an interactive environment for exploring planar structures through direct manipulation. Users apply forces to structural configurations and observe real-time feedback on deflections, support reactions, internal forces, and bending behavior. A built-in game module, Catastrophe, challenges users to remove as many elements as possible without causing collapse. This introduces key concepts such as stability, redundancy, and failure mechanisms in a qualitative, exploratory format.

PushMePullMe 3D supports more advanced topics including geometric nonlinearity, form-finding, and shape optimization. Built on a vector-based finite element formulation, it computes full stress fields and large displacements in real time, handling rigid body motion and bending-active elements. The tool has been used in design-build workshops where students created scaled prototypes of grid-shells and cable nets within 1-3 days, demonstrating its effectiveness in translating complex computational concepts into tangible outcomes.

School-aged learning outcomes:

• Role of engineers in the built environment
• Effects of gravity and live loads
• Tension and compression behavior
• Behavior of triangulated structures

Undergraduate learning outcomes:

• Support reactions and internal forces
• Shear and bending moments
• Structural stiffness and structural response
• Bracing, slenderness and buckling
• Structural typologies and material efficiency

Graduate learning outcomes:

• Geometric nonlinearity and prestress
• Shape optimization and form-finding
• Cable nets, grid-shells, and tensegrity systems
• Adaptive and morphing structures
• Local and global buckling behavior