Improved Coefficient of Restitution Estimation for Free Rocking Members

Abstract

In 1963, a geometry-dependent approach to estimate the coefficient of restitution (COR) was proposed for free rocking structures. Since then, this estimation has been reported as being consistently lower than results obtained from experimental data. An assumption used by the original model is shown to be the cause of this underestimation. Identifying that the rocking takes place over a contact region, this study introduces a modified formulation for free rocking bodies and proposes an improved COR estimation to accurately quantify the energy dissipation of these structures. Using experimental data, it is shown that the improved CORs consistently provide better correlation to those established from tests than the COR obtained from the original approach.