The distinct element method(DEM)has been used successfully for the dynamic analysis of rigid block sys-tems.One of many difficulties associated with DEM is modeling of damping.In this paper,new procedures are proposed forthe damping modeling and its numerical implementation in distinct element analysis of rigid muhi-block systems.The stiff-ness proportional damping is constructed for the prescribed damping ratio,based on the non-zero fundamental frequency ef-fective during the time interval while the boundary conditions remain essentially constant.At this time interval,the funda-mental frequency can be estimated without complete eigenvalue analysis.The damping coefficients will vary while the damp-ing ratio remains the same throughout the entire analysis.A new numerical procedure is developed to prevent unnecessaryenergy loss that can occur during the separation phases.These procedures were implemented in the development of the dis-tinet element method for the dynamic analyses of piled multi-block systems.The analysis results |or the single-block andtwo-block systems were in a good agreement with the analytic predictions.Applications to the seismic analyses of piled four-block systems revealed that the new procedures can make a significant difference and may lead to much-improved results. The distinct element method (DEM) has been used successfully for the dynamic analysis of rigid block sys-tems. One of the many difficulties associated with DEM is modeling of damping. In this paper, new procedures are proposed forthe damping modeling and its numerical implementation in distinct element analysis of rigid muhi-block systems. The stiff-ness proportional damping is constructed for the prescribed damping ratio, based on the non-zero fundamental frequency ef-fective during the time interval while the boundary conditions remain essentially constant. At this time interval, the funda-mental frequency can be estimated without complete eigenvalue analysis. damping factor will vary while the damp-ing ratio remains the same throughout the entire analysis. A new numerical procedure is developed to prevent unnecessary energy loss that can occur during the separation These procedures were implemented in the development of the dis-tinet element method for the dynamic analyzes of piled multi-block systems. The analysis results | or the single-block andtwo-block systems were in a good agreement with the analytic predictions. Applications to the seismic analyzes of piled four-block systems revealed that the new procedures can make a significant difference and may lead to much-improved results.