Improving Accuracy of the Simple Rocking Model of Rigid Blocks

Abstract eng:
In the Chilean earthquake in 1960, survival of several slender tall structures was attributed to their ability to respond in a rocking mode when experiencing the ground motion. Three years later, Housner developed a simple rocking model (SRM) to analytically explain the stability induced by rocking. The SRM was based on a planar rigid block pivoting on a rigid base about its bottom corners with the only source of damping being the impact energy loss. Since then, researchers have compared the SRM with experimental results of several geometrically different free-standing blocks. Their findings indicated that the SRM consistently overestimates the impact energy loss. Recognizing that the actual pivot point of a planar rocking block resides within its contact length with the base, this issue is addressed in this paper by accordingly modifying the SRM formulas. Comparisons with experimental data show that the proposed method significantly improves correlation to the measured coefficient of restitution (i.e., damping due to impact) compared to Housner’s model.

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