Athree-dimensionalrigidbodyontheshapeofaparallelepipedismodelledinordertorockonasideoravertexofthebase,inordertoevaluatetheseismicresponseofrigidblockslyingonahorizontalsupport.Thecenterofmassofthebodyisconsideredaseccentricwithrespecttoitsgeometriccenter.Asseismicinput,threeItalianrecordedaccelerograms,withdifferentspectralcontent,areused.Thestudyismainlyconductedtohighlightthedifferencesbetweentheseismicresponseof2Dand3Dmodelsofrigidblocks,withtheaimtounderstandif,insomecases,theuseofthe3Dmodelofrigidblockisrequiredtoobtainsaferresults.Infact,theoutcomesshowthatinsomerangesofthegeometricalandmechanicalparametersthatcharacterizetheexcitationandthebody,atwo-dimensionalmodel,whichisnotabletoconsiderthe3Drockingonavertex,canprovideunsaferesults.Inparticular,itisfoundthattheoverturningprocessofthethree-dimensionalblockcanoccurunderexcitationswhicharelowerthanthosewhichoverturnacorrespondingtwo-dimensionalblock.
