Verification of Block Kinematic Responses as Calculated by ABAQUS

The study of rigid body motion is important in the consideration of the behavior of the dam under earthquake motion. Discrete blocks can be formed during the earthquake and the response of these blocks to subsequent earthquake motion is an important consideration. Research on the response of rigid bodies has been done since the late 1890's, although tools to predict the response of rigid bodies are scarce. The nonlinear capabilities of ABAQUS are studied here to understand how closely it can model the rigid body motion of a block compared to the theoretical solutions posed thus far.