SIMPLIFIED FINITE ELEMENT MODELS FOR THE DYNAMIC RESPONSE ASSESSMENT OF RIGID AND FLEXIBLE BLOCKS

Abstract eng:
The paper examines different approaches for modeling the seismic response of blocks that are either rigid or flexible. Simple models that are based on beam-column elements and can be implemented with common finite element (FE) software are developed. We first study rigid blocks and we compare our findings with results obtained solving directly the block’s equation of motion as derived by Housner’s theory. We compare different single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) models which consist of a rigid beam connected to a zero-length, non-linear rotational spring with negative-stiffness, while different options for modelling energy dissipation are considered. The proposed models are compared using simple wavelets and natural ground motion records producing accurate results in all cases. The proposed FE approach allows to also study flexible blocks offering a modeling that is simple and able to provide very accurate solutions using tools that are widely available in existing software, or easy to implement in a FE code.

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