Dynamics of rigid block due to horizontal ground motion

This paper addresses the problem of a rigid block above the foundation subjected to a horizontal ground motion. The objective of this work is to formulate criteria that separate the sticked and the slipped modes of the motion by an analytical approach. The influence of the three parametric quantities: (1) mu(s) (static friction coefficient); (2) b/h (relative width); (3) alg (a is the acceleration of the base and g is the gravitational acceleration) upon the motion mode nature is investigated. It is shown that disregard of the sliding can involve mistakes in the study of the body rotation.