Numerical and experimental investigation of rocking stability of rigid blocks during single sine-wave excitation

Abstract

Rocking stability of a rigid prismatic block standing on a rigid base subject to a simple harmonic acceleration function is still an important dynamics problem, in which energy loss is often not treated accurately enough. The energy loss at impacts during rocking is here examined. The stability for various slendernesses and sizes of a rocking block is assessed numerically, where an improved coefficient capable of estimating the size effect is considered. A number of relevant cases are validated experimentally, with a specially designed set of well-controlled and documented rocking benchmark tests on a shaking table system.