Abstract:In this paper, based on the characteristics of a slender rigid block system, a method is introduced for computing the spectrum of Lyapunov exponent by combining the local map and the Poincare map. Then, by numerical simulation, the chaotic orbits generated by heteroclinic bifurcation under external periodic excitation are observed and the extended Lyapunov exponential spectrum method is applied to the rocking block system. Numerical results confirm the chaotic phenomenon does occur in the system.