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The development process of mechanical systems involves the evaluation of its modes of vibrations in the frequency range of interest. In general, a linear modal analysis is sufficient to determine whether the system can operate in dynamic conditions. However, in some cases the assembly is composed of many subsystems connected through nonlinear connections which make the response depend on the amplitude and frequency of the excitation. In those cases, Linear Normal Modes (LNMs) are not sufficient to fully describe the dynamics of the system and Nonlinear Normal Modes (NNMs) must be used. Using substructuring techniques it is possible to treat nonlinear joints as independent subsystems. However, a reliable nonlinear model is needed to use this approach. The experimental characterization is the only way to correctly estimate the nonlinear behavior of the connection. Thus, the aim of this work is to develop and validate the experimental characterization to build an experimental nonlinear modal model of a strongly nonlinear element that can be used to connect different linear subsystems and can be regarded as a localized source of nonlinearity. The NNMs identification is performed using the single-point single-harmonic phase resonance method, and the experimental nonlinear modal model of the NLCE is obtained by retaining only the first harmonic term of each NNM in order to get nearly uncoupled modal equations. • Experimental identification of nonlinear normal modes of strongly nonlinear elements. • New concept design of a nonlinear connecting element. • Quantification of super-harmonics contributions of the response around resonance. • Validation of the identified model of the strongly nonlinear element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Combination of CAN and LDR to detect kissing bonds in adhesive joints. • Nonlinear acoustics showing second harmonic and frequency downshifts of the LDR. • Harmonic Balance Method used to solve the nonlinear Duffing's equation for the LDR. • Nonlinear contact bilinear model developed for FE analysis of the adhesive joint. Adhesively bonded joints are susceptible to contamination of surfaces during manufacture and environmental deterioration in real operating conditions. These may cause the generation of so-called "kissing bonds" that can dramatically alter the strength of the joint leading to premature failure. Nonlinear acousto-ultrasonic (AU) techniques have shown great potential for monitoring kissing bonds with piezoelectric sensors permanently installed on the structural joint, thus enabling online and in-situ inspection. This paper investigated the combined contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN) and local damage resonance (LDR) effects in the presence of kissing bonds in adhesive joints. Experimental nonlinear AU tests showed the formation of LDR frequency down-shifts and "jumps" of the fundamental damage resonance in adhesively bonded aluminium joints, with the kissing bond located internally to the overlapping region between the two adherends. These results were supported by a theoretical model based on the solution of the nonlinear Duffing's equation, under the assumption that the debonded region is a damped nonlinear harmonic oscillator subject to harmonic forcing. The Harmonic Balance Method was used to solve the nonlinear differential problem, showing the generation of frequency down-shifts via the dependence of the ratio between the excitation and LDR frequencies with the amplitude of the fundamental damage resonance. Additionally, two-dimensional finite element simulations using a reduced order model based on the Craig-Bampton technique were carried out to support experimental AU tests for the identification of the LDR frequency and the generation of nonlinear resonance effects. Good agreement between analytical, numerical, and experimental results revealed that a monitoring approach combining CAN and LDR is an extremely efficient and sensitive tool for ensuring integrity and safety of structural adhesive joints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical joints play a critical role in many engineering structures, but identifying their characteristics can be challenging, particularly when the joint interface (coupling DoFs) cannot be directly measured. In these cases, an existing iterative procedure based on the use of the System Equivalent Model Mixing (SEMM) expansion technique and substructure decoupling can be used to identify the joint properties by taking measurement on other accessible DoFs (internal DoFs). Despite the potential of this procedure, it is prone to large error propagation. In addition, in the SEMM expansion a weighted pseudo-inverse operation is needed to ensure the convergence of the iterative procedure when both coupling and internal DoFs (extended interface) are involved in the decoupling. This paper focuses on the detection of the error sources in the process and on the definition of some strategies to limit error propagation. The use of internal DoFs only (pseudo-interface) in the decoupling is proposed. This avoids the use of coupling DoFs affected by the expansion error. Furthermore, two strategies are proposed to improve the conditioning of the procedure when using the extended interface. Both strategies are based on the Truncated Singular Values Decomposition (TSVD). It is shown that the weights clearly indicate the number of singular values to be retained in the matrices to be inverted. The proposed improvements are validated on a laboratory benchmark. Measurements on the benchmark are performed to validate the strategies with experimental data. In addition, the Monte Carlo method is applied using noise-polluted numerical data to evaluate the potential of the proposed strategies to mitigate the error propagation in the SEMM-based joint identification procedure. • This paper highlights and discusses the error propagation in SEMM-based joint identification procedure. • The use of the pseudo-interface in decoupling step and a fitting procedure are proposed to limit the error propagation. • Two strategies based on the TSVD are introduced to improve the quality of the joint identification when using the extended interface in decoupling. • Numerical and experimental examples are used to evaluate the proposed improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]