Implementation of configuration dependent stiffness proportional damping for the dynamics of rigid multi-block systems

The distinct element method (DEM) has been used successfully for the dynamic analysis of rigid block systems. One of many difficulties associated with DEM is modeling of damping. In this paper, new procedures are proposed for the damping modeling and its numerical implementation in distinct element analysis of rigid multi-block systems. The stiffness proportional damping is constructed for the prescribed damping ratio, based on the non-zero fundamental frequency effective during the time interval while the boundary conditions remain essentially constant. At this time interval, the fundamental frequency can be estimated without complete eigenvalue analysis. The damping coefficients will vary while the damping ratio remains the same throughout the entire analysis. A new numerical procedure is developed to prevent unnecessary energy loss that can occur during the separation phases. These procedures were implemented in the development of the distinct element method for the dynamic analyses of piled multi-block systems. The analysis results for the single-block and two-block systems were in a good agreement with the analytic predictions. Applications to the seismic analyses of piled fourblock systems revealed that the new procedures can make a significant difference and may lead to much-improved results.