Numerical Block-Based Simulation of Rocking Structures Using a Novel Universal Viscous Damping Model

Unreinforced masonry structures, particularly façade walls, are seismically vulnerable due to their weak connections with adjacent floors, and/or roofs. During an earthquake, such walls formulate local mechanisms prone out-of-plane collapse. This behavior has been largely investigated using classical rocking theory, which assumes the structure responds as a rigid body undergoing motion, energy dissipation at impact. Due complexity of problem, however, e.g., number degrees freedom or boundary conditions, numerical block-based modeling is gaining momentum. However, models lack consistent and reliable treatment loss paper bridges gap between well-established theory damping in modeling. Specifically, it proposes equivalent viscous model through novel ready-to-use predictive equations that capture dissipative phenomena during both one-sided two-sided planar motion. The results reveal satisfactory performance proposed comparisons experimental from literature highlight its universality robustness applications fundamentally different software.