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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Sliding response of rigid bodies to earthquake motions

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4118762· OSTI ID:4118762

A fundamental study of the sliding response of massive concrete blocks to earthquake ground motions, including the effect of vertical accelerations/ decelerations on the friction forces, is reported. This particular problem occurs when large concrete blocks are used as radiation shields in nuclear particle accelerator installations in seismic areas. The results of this study can also help in understanding the response of other rigid bodies (as approximated by some electrical/mechanical equipment) which are not anchored to the ground. Based upon the simple theory of friction and equations of motion, a computer program BLOKSLD was written to predict the sliding motion of a rigid block under the effect of simultaneous horizontal and vertical earthquake accelerations. The accuracy of computer-predicted results was checked against the experimental data and a satisfactory agreement (10 percent) was found. Tests were conducted with concrete blocks on a newly constructed 20 x 20 ft shaking table which can reproduce independent horizontal and vertical displacement components. Tests were made for both sinusoidal and actual earthquake ground motions. Various materials were tried between the concrete block and the shaking table to reduce the coefficient of friction and to study the suitability of such materials for this purpose. Input table accelerations and the relative displacements between table and block were recorded for comparison with computer results. (auth)

Research Organization:
California Univ., Berkeley (USA). Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
NSA Number:
NSA-33-011778
OSTI ID:
4118762
Report Number(s):
LBL--3868
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English