Keywords: Seismic performance. Nonstructural components. Static friction coefficient. Kinetic friction coefficient. Rigid blocks. Block-type components. Tilt and pull tests. Dynamic analyses.

Say we consider a simple experiment of balancing a wooden rod on two fingers. The finger on the left, (1), will remain stationary, whereas the finger on the right, (2), will be moved toward the left.

It's perhaps the second week of your introductory physics course. Your instructor starts talking about friction and writes the following two formulas on the board. Then there is probably some sort of ...

Consider the block shown above supported by feet at A and B that is at rest on a rough floor. A horizontal force P is applied to the right on the block. As the magnitude of P is increased slowly, two ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. In earthquakes, the principle shows how one part of a fault slipping can unleash movement across miles of crust. (CREDIT: ...