Influence of the block shape on the impact process by an advanced rheological model

We presented an advanced elasto-visco-plastic impact model in which blocks with prismatic shapes are taken into consideration together with their rotation. The model considers a failure mechanism below the impacting block equivalent to that of a function. After a brief description of the procedure employed to evaluate the equivalent base of the foundation for the new block shapes and the illustration of the new constitutive mathematical equations, a model validation is carried out. For this purpose, comparisons between the experimental data and the numerical simulation results for vertical impacts are shown. The calibrated model parameters are used in the subsequent parametric analysis, which has been performed to investigate the influence of the blocks shape. To this purpose, the following group of numerical simulations are performed: (i) spherical and prismatic shapes with triangular basis and free rotating, impacting with different angles on an inclined slope; (ii) same as the previous group but with locked rotation; (iii) vertical impacts for different slope angles considering only blocks free to rotate. The numerical results for a fixed slope gradient demonstrate that the block shape is a major parameter affecting the impact process while rotations have less influence even if their evolution change according to the block shape. Vertical impacts allow to obtain analogous results. Block symmetry is considered the main reason for the small rotational components generated during impacts.