A study of rigid blocks rocking against rigid walls

Abstract

The safety of typical bookshelf is investigated using an inverted pendulum approach. A general bookcase is modelled as a rocking block and its response to damped harmonic excitation is simulated. The rocking of the block is considered as one sided since these household items generally stand parallel to a wall. This approach adds restraints to the rocking behaviour. The overturning spectra for the bookcase is presented for one-sided and two-sided rocking for a range of damped harmonic excitations, demonstrating the chaotic behaviour of the inverted pendulum model. Furthermore, results indicate one-sided rocking to be more prone to overturning, making it a more unstable system than its two-sided counterpart.