Modeling the dynamic behaviour of masonry walls as rigid blocks

摘要

This paper addresses the numerical modeling of masonry walls as rigid blocks.Models based on rigid block assemblies provide a suitable frame work for understanding theirdynamic behavior under seismic actions. In this context, the problem is primarily concernedwith Rocking Motion dynamics. The numerical tool is based on the Discrete Element Method(DEM) specially effective for the numerical modeling of rigid blocks. Some authors have beenused successfully the DEM in the study of block structures. However, they have used experimentaltest to calibrate their models and to obtain the parameters used in the DEM; because theseparameters cannot be obtained directly form the characteristics of the stones. In this context,a new methodology is proposed to find the parameters of the DEM by using the parameters ofthe classical theory. Special attention regards about the damping factor, since in the DEM aviscous damping is considered, but in reality the damping is due to impulsive forces that theycan be considered as a type of Dirac-б forces. An extensive comparison between numericaland experimental data has been carried out to verified the proposed methodology. Very goodagreement between the numerical model and experimental data is achieved.