Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 104

Leuven, Belgium, 4-6 July 2011

G. De Roeck, G. Degrande, G. Lombaert, G. Muller (eds.)
ISBN 978-90-760-1931-4

Modal Analysis of Nonlinear Vibrating Systems: Recent Progress and Challenges

Gaetan Kerschen
Space Structures and Systems Laboratory
Structural Dynamics Research Group
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department
University of Li`ege, Li`ege, Belgium
email: g.kerschen@ulg.ac.be

ABSTRACT: Theoretical and experimental modal analysis, i.e., the computation of vibration modes from a mathematical model
and from experimental data, respectively, is quite sophisticated and advanced in linear structural dynamics. However, nonlinearity
is a frequent occurrence in real-world engineering structures, and the existing linear methodologies can no longer be used in
this context. Therefore, the development of a nonlinear analog of modal analysis would be a timely contribution. Because
nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) provide solid mathematical foundations for a rigorous analysis of nonlinear dynamical behaviors,
a framework which includes both their computation from finite element models and their identification from experimental data is
proposed in this paper. In view of the still limited use of NNMs in structural dynamics, special attention is devoted to develop tools
that have the potential to deal with large-scale structures.

KEY WORDS: Nonlinearity; modal analysis; mode shapes; frequencies.

1 INTRODUCTION focused on the analytic calculation of NNMs. Thanks to the

The concept of a normal mode is central in the theory of linear
vibrating systems. Besides their obvious physical interpretation,
the linear normal modes (LNMs) have interesting mathematical
properties. In addition, LNMs are relevant dynamical features
that can be exploited for various purposes including model
reduction [1], experimental modal analysis [2], finite element
model updating [3] and structural health monitoring [4].
While the common practice is to assume linear behavior,
nonlinearity is a frequent occurrence in engineering applications
and can drastically alter their behavior [5]. For instance,
in an aircraft, besides nonlinear fluid-structure interaction,
typical nonlinearities include backlash and friction in control
surfaces and joints, hardening nonlinearities in engine-to-pylon
connections, and saturation effects in hydraulic actuators.
In this paper, an attempt is made to extend theoretical (TMA)
and experimental modal analysis (EMA) to a practical nonlinear
analog using the nonlinear normal mode (NNM) theory. NNMs
offer a solid and rigorous mathematical tool for analyzing
nonlinear oscillations, yet they have a clear conceptual relation
to the classical linear normal modes [6]. In the first part of
this paper, it is shown that a shooting method combined with
pseudo-arclength continuation can lead to an effective algorithm
for the computation of NNMs from finite element models. In
the second part of the paper, following the philosophy of force
appropriation, a method for extracting NNMs directly from
experimental data is proposed.
2 THEORETICAL MODAL ANALYSIS
The NNM theory is well-established [7], [8], [9], but it enjoyed
few applications to systems possessing more than a few degrees
of freedom. One reason is that most studies in the literature
development of computational techniques, there has been recent
progress in trying to close the gap between academic and
industrial structures. Interesting contributions in this context are
the numerical extension of the invariant manifold approach [10]
and normal form theory [11], the asymptotic-numerical method
[12] and complex nonlinear modal analysis [13].
The approach followed in this section for TMA defines an
NNM as a (non-necessarily synchronous) periodic motion of
an undamped mechanical system 1 . The proposed numerical
method relies on two main techniques, namely a shooting
procedure and a method for the continuation of periodic
solutions. A detailed description of the numerical algorithm
is given in [14] and is summarized schematically in Figure 1.
The key feature of this algorithm is that NNMs are obtained
accurately, even in strongly nonlinear regimes, and in a fairly
automatic manner.
The shooting method consists in finding, in an iterative
way, the initial conditions and the period inducing an isolated
periodic motion (i.e., an NNM motion) of the conservative
system. To this end, the method relies on direct numerical time
integration and on the Newton-Raphson procedure. Starting
from some assumed initial conditions, the motion of the
system at the assumed period is determined by numerical
time integration. The Newmark scheme is considered herein.
According to the difference between the initial and the final
states of the system, the initial conditions and the period are
then corrected iteratively using the Newton-Raphson algorithm.
1 A detailed description of NNMs and of their fundamental properties (e.g.,
frequency-energy dependence, bifurcations and stability) is beyond the scope of
this paper. Interested readers may refer to [6], [8] for further detail.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 105

LNM

Shooting

NNM motion
at low energy
zp0,(1) , T(1) (j = 1)

Predictor step
Computation of the tangent
and control of the stepsize
(0) (0)
z ,T (k = 0)
p0,(j+1) (j+1)

Residual evaluation
Time integration:
j = j+1
(k)
H = H(z )
p0,(j+1)

Next NNM motion

on the branch:
Cvg ? YES (k)
k = k+1 ||H|| < ||z
(k)
||
zp0,(j+1) = z
p0,(j+1)
p0,(j+1)
(k)
T( j+1) = T
( j+1)

NO

Corrector step (Shooting)

Computation of the corrections:
(k+1) (k) (k)
z =z + z
p0,(j+1) p0,(j+1) p0,(j+1)
(k+1) (k) (k)
T =T + T
( j+1) ( j+1) ( j+1)

Figure 1. Algorithm for NNM computation.

1 1 1

1 1

0.5 x1 x2

Figure 2. Schematic representation of the 2DOF system example.

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
A continuation method is combined with the shooting method
to determine successive NNM motions at different energy levels.
The so-called pseudo-arclength continuation method is used
herein. Starting from a single NNM motion at a specific
energy level, another NNM motion at a different energy level
is computed using a predictor step and a corrector step. Using
the LNMs as initial guess at low energy, the NNM computation
is carried out for increasing energy levels.
One typical dynamical feature of nonlinear systems is the
frequency-energy dependence of their oscillations. As a result,
the modal curves and frequencies of NNMs depend on the total
energy in the system. Due this dependence, the representation
of NNMs in a frequency-energy plot (FEP) is particularly
convenient. An NNM motion is represented by a point in
the FEP, which is drawn at the fundamental frequency of the
periodic motion and at the conserved total energy during the
motion, which is the sum of the potential and kinetic energies. A
branch, represented by a solid line, is a family of NNM motions
possessing the same qualitative features.
For illustration, the 2DOF system depicted in Figure 2 is
considered. The underlying linear system possesses two (in-
phase and out-of-phase) LNMs. The FEP, computed using the
numerical algorithm, is shown in Figure 3. More complex
systems can be considered without difficulty [15], [16]. For
instance, one NNM of the full-scale aircraft shown in Figure
4 is represented in Figure 5. More details on this application are
available in [16].
3 EXPERIMENTAL MODAL ANALYSIS
There are two classical linear approaches for EMA [2]. Phase
separation methods excite several modes at once using either
broadband excitation or swept-sine excitation covering the
frequency range of interest. Phase resonance methods excite
one mode at a time using multi-point sine excitation at the
corresponding natural frequency. A careful selection of the
shaker locations is required to induce single-mode behavior.
This process is also known as normal-mode tuning or force
appropriation.
Phase resonance methods have been used for decades,
particularly in the aerospace industry (e.g., for ground vibration
testing of aircrafts [17] and modal survey of satellites [18]).
They provide a very accurate identification of the modal
parameters, but they are time-consuming. In order to reduce
the testing time, phase separation methods are now used in
conjunction with phase resonance methods; these latter are
reserved for modes that need a special attention (e.g., closely-
spaced modes and important modes for flutter computations).
Realizing that the general motion of a nonlinear system
cannot be expressed as a superposition of NNMs, it is not
clear how individual NNMs can be extracted using a nonlinear
extension of phase separation methods. This is why our focus
is on the extension of phase resonance testing to nonlinear
structures. The present section therefore introduces a two-
step approach that extracts the NNM modal curves and their
frequencies of oscillation directly from experimental data [19].
First, the method consists in exciting the system to induce
single-NNM behavior at a specific energy level. To this end,
an extension of force appropriation to nonlinear systems is
106
developed. In particular, the phase lag of the response with
respect to the applied force is used as an indicator to assess
the quality of the appropriation. This first step is referred to
as nonlinear force appropriation.
The second step turns off the excitation to track the energy
dependence of the NNM of interest using the free damped
response resulting from the appropriated NNM motion. During
this NNM free decay, the frequency-energy dependence may be
identified using time-frequency analysis. More details on the
two steps of the procedure are given in the next sections.
The methodology therefore consists in extracting one NNM
at a time from the time series by means of this two-step
procedure. In order to relate the forced and free responses of
the damped system to the NNMs of the underlying conservative
(i.e., undamped and unforced) system, the approach relies on
three fundamental properties:
1. Forced responses of nonlinear systems at resonance occur in
the neighborhood of NNMs [6], [8].
2. According to the invariance property, motions that start out
in the NNM manifold remain in it for all time [9].
3. For weak to moderate damping, its effect on the transient
dynamics may be considered to be purely parasitic. The
damped invariant manifold can therefore be approximated by
the undamped invariant manifold. The free damped dynamics
closely follows the NNM of the underlying undamped system
[6].
3.1 Nonlinear force appropriation
For linear systems, force appropriation is usually performed by
adapting the frequency and the amplitude distribution of the
multi-point excitation. According to the phase lag quadrature
criterion (also called phase resonance criterion), a linear damped
structure vibrates according to one of the normal modes of the
underlying conservative system if all degrees of freedom vibrate
synchronously with a phase lag of 90 degrees with respect to the
harmonic excitation. Hence, if the phase quadrature criterion
is verified during the experimental testing, a single undamped
normal mode is isolated, and the natural frequency and the mode
shape can be identified [20].
The NNM framework is used herein to extend force
appropriation to nonlinear structures in order to isolate and
extract a single NNM at a time. To this end, the forced
response of a nonlinear structure with linear viscous damping
is considered
Mx(t) + Cx(t) + Kx(t) + fnl {x(t)} = p(t) (1)
Extracting a given NNM motion of the underlying conservative
system by means of appropriate excitation is equivalent to
assume x(t) = xnnm (t) in the equations of motion. Because an
undamped NNM motion is defined as a periodic solution of the
underlying conservative system, the excitation vector achieving
a perfect appropriation of the damped system is given by
pnnm (t) = C x nnm (t) (2)
This relationship shows that the appropriate excitation is
periodic and has the same frequency components as the
corresponding NNM motion (i.e., generally including multi-
harmonic components).
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 107

0.9

0.8 S11

0.7

0.6
Frequency (Hz)

0.5

0.4

0.3
S11+
0.2

0.1

0 5 0
10 10
Energy (log scale)
Figure 3. Frequency-energy plot of a 2DOF system. NNM motions depicted in the configuration space are inset. The horizontal
and vertical axes in these plots are the displacements of the first and second DOFs, respectively.

Figure 4. Morane-Saulnier Paris aircraft.

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 108

35

34.8 a 33.5344

33.5343

33.5342
34.6
33.5341 tongue 9:1
33.534
34.4
Frequency (Hz)

33.5339
0 2
34.2 10 10

34

33.8
b

33.6

33.4 4 2 0 2 4
10 10 10 10 10

Energy (log scale)

(a) (b)

Figure 5. FEP of the second (anti-symmetric) wing torsional NNM of the Paris aircraft. NNM shapes at energy levels marked in
the FEP are inset; they are given in terms of the initial displacements (m) that realize the periodic motion (with zero initial
velocities assumed).
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 109

An NNM motion is now expressed as a Fourier cosine series By balancing the coefficients of respective harmonics, it follows

that
xnnm (t) = Xnnm
k cos(k t). (3)
k2 2 MXk + KXk + Fnl,k (Xr ) = 0
k=1 (8)
k CXk = Pk
where is the fundamental pulsation of the NNM motion and
Xk is the amplitude vector of the kth harmonic. In this paper, this for k = 1, . . . , . So, the external force is given by
type of motion is referred to as monophase NNM motion due to

the fact that the displacements of all DOFs reach their extreme
values simultaneously. The expression of the corresponding
p(t) = Pk sin(k t) = k CXk sin(k t) = Cx(t) (9)
k=1 k=1
appropriate excitation is given by
and the periodic response x(t) is a solution of the underlying
pnnm (t) = CXnnm
k k sin(k t) (4) conservative system. The response x(t) is therefore an
k=1 undamped NNM motion of the system: the NNM force
appropriation is realized.
Comparing equations (3) and (4), the excitation of a monophase
In conclusion, the phase lag quadrature criterion, valid for
NNM is thus characterized by a phase lag of 90 of each
linear systems, can be generalized to monophase NNM motions
harmonic with respect to the displacement response.
of nonlinear structures, where the phase lag is defined with
One important feature of the appropriate excitation is that it is
respect to each harmonics of the monophase signals.
energy-dependent. In particular, it is characterized by the same
In other words, if the response (in terms of displacements
frequency-energy dependence as the corresponding NNM. This
or accelerations) across the structure is a monophase periodic
is illustrated for the 2DOF example in Figure 6 where the FEP of
motion in quadrature with the excitation, the structure vibrates
the in-phase NNM is depicted. The appropriate excitation and
according to a single NNM of the underlying conservative
the resulting NNM motion are depicted for four different energy
system. The phase lag of the generated monophase excitation
levels. Their Fourier coefficients are also represented. Clearly,
with respect to the response can thus be used as an indicator of
when progressing from low to high energies, the fundamental
the NNM appropriation.
frequency of the appropriate excitation increases, which is due
to the hardening behavior of the system. In addition, multiple 3.3 NNM free decay identification
harmonics are necessary to induce single-NNM behavior.
By means of nonlinear force appropriation, the forced response
3.2 Phase lag quadrature criterion for NNM force appropria- of a damped system may be restricted to a single undamped
tion NNM at a specific energy level. In view of the frequency-energy
dependence, successive appropriate excitations at different
The previous section has demonstrated that nonlinear systems
force levels have to be considered to provide a complete
can successfully be forced according to a given NNM at a
characterization of the NNM of interest. This may complicate
specific energy level through force appropriation. An indicator
the experimental realization.
highlighting that the NNM appropriation has effectively
The alternative strategy proposed here consists in exploiting
been achieved would be particularly useful. To this end,
the NNM invariance property. When a high-energy NNM
we generalize the phase lag quadrature criterion (or phase
motion is isolated using force appropriation, the excitation is
resonance criterion) to nonlinear systems.
stopped to obtain the resulting free damped response. Due to
The forced response of the damped system (1) is examined
invariance, this free decay response initiated on the undamped
when it vibrates according to a monophase periodic motion with
NNM remains close to it when energy decreases [6].
a phase lag of 90 degrees of each harmonics with respect to the
Using this procedure, the energy dependence of the NNM
periodic excitation, i.e.,
modal curves and the corresponding frequencies of oscillation
may be easily extracted from the free decay. To compute
x(t) = Xk cos(k t), p(t) = Pk sin(k t) (5) the oscillation frequency of NNMs, time-frequency analysis is
k=1 k=1
considered; the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is used
As the response is even with respect to the time, the nonlinear in this paper. In contrast to the Fourier transform, which
restoring forces can be written as a cosine series assumes signal stationarity, the CWT involves a windowing
technique with variable-sized regions. Small time intervals are

considered for high-frequency components, whereas the size
fnl (x(t)) = Fnl,k cos(k t) (6)
of the interval is increased for lower-frequency components.
k=1
The CWT can therefore track the temporal evolution of the
We then obtain instantaneous frequencies, which makes it an effective tool for
analyzing nonlinear signals.
M k2 2 Xk cos(k t) C k Xk sin(k t)
k=1 k=1

+K Xk cos(k t) + Fnl,k cos(k t) = Pk sin(k t)
k=1 k=1 k=1
(7)
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 110

0.25

(d)
0.2
(c)
Frequency (Hz)

(b)
(a)

0.15

0.1 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Energy

(a) (b) (c) (d)

3
x 10 0.02 0.08
2 0.04

0.01 0.04
1 0.02
p1 , p2 (N)

p1 , p2 (N)

p1 , p2 (N)

p1 , p2 (N)
0 0 0 0

1 0.02
0.01 0.04
0.04
2
0.02 0.08
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
t (s) t (s) t (s) t (s)
3
x 10 0.02 0.05 0.08
2

0.04
1.5 0.015 0.06
0.03
Pk

Pk

Pk

Pk

1 0.01 0.04
0.02
0.5 0.005 0.02
0.01

0 0 0 0
1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9
k k k k
0.08 0.8 2
4
0.04 0.4 1
2
x1 , x2 (m)

x1 , x2 (m)
x1 , x2 (m)

x1 , x2 (m)

0 0 0 0

2
0.04 0.4 1
4
0.08 0.8 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
t (s) t (s) t (s) t (s)

0.08 0.8 2 5

4
0.06 0.6 1.5
3
Xk

Xk

Xk

Xk

0.04 0.4 1
2
0.02 0.2 0.5
1

0 0 0 0
1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9
k k k k

Figure 6. Frequency-energy dependence of the appropriate excitation for the 2DOF system. Top plot: FEP of the in-phase NNM of
the underlying undamped system. Bottom plots (from top to bottom): time series of the appropriate excitation (: p1 (t);
: p2 (t)); Fourier coefficients of the appropriate excitation (grey: p1 ; black: p2 ); time series of the corresponding NNM
motion (: x1 (t); : x2 (t)); Fourier coefficients of the NNM motion (grey: x1 ; black: x2 ).
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
3.4 Experimental demonstration
Targeting the experimental application of the proposed method-
ology, a set-up composed of a cantilever beam with a thin
beam at its end is considered. This experimental structure is
represented in Figure 7. The nonlinear behavior comes from the
geometrical stiffening effect of the thin beam. This benchmark
is similar to the structure used during the European action COST
F3 for nonlinear system identification [21]. In particular, its
nonlinear behavior was identified and modeled in [22], [23].
In order to avoid the effect of gravity, the thin beam is
positioned vertically, and the structure is excited in a horizontal
plane by means of an electrodynamic shaker. The structural
response is measured using seven accelerometers which span
the main beam regularly, and a displacement sensor (laser
vibrometer) is located at the end of the beam. The exciter is
connected to the structure by means of a rod at the end of which
a force transducer is mounted. As a result, the phase lag of the
forced responses with respect to the applied excitation can be
determined during testing.
The identification of the first beam NNM is carried out herein
(see [24] for the identification of the second beam NNM).
The generated force is a mono-harmonic excitation of tunable
frequency 2 . The natural frequency of the first beam LNM was
used as the initial frequency of the stepped sine excitation. In
view of the hardening nonlinear behavior due to the thin beam,
the excitation frequency is gradually increased until resonance.
At each step, if the excitation frequency increment leads to a
sudden change in the measured responses (i.e., discontinuity
in the amplitude and phase of the motion) indicating a jump
to another coexisting stable solution, the procedure is restarted,
and the last frequency increment is decreased to remain on the
initial branch of forced responses. This procedure is stopped
when sufficiently good NNM appropriation is achieved. To this
end, the phase lag between the excitation and the response is
continuously monitored during the process.
The appropriation of the first NNM is realized for a phase
lag of 89 degrees. The resulting time series are represented in
Figure 8. The displacement at beam tip is about 1.2 mm. The
geometric nonlinearity is activated, and harmonic components
of the excitation frequency appear in the response, particularly
for the acceleration signals. The NNM modal curve, expressing
the motion in a two-dimensional projection of the configuration
space, is given in Figure 9. This figure also represents the
NNM modal shape composed of the maximum amplitudes of the
accelerations for all measurement locations along the structure.
The modal shape is a snapshot of the NNM motion at a specific
time instant corresponding to the maximum amplitude of the
response.
Now that the structure vibrates according to the first NNM
at a specific energy level, the gain of the exciter amplifier is
turned off to initiate NNM free decay. The resulting response
is illustrated in Figure 10 where the time series of the measured
displacement at the beam end is depicted.
The continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is computed to
track the frequency content of the single-NNM free decay
response as energy decreases. For illustration, the time-
2 The use of a multi-harmonic input signal for discriminating between the
different beam modes was not necessary.
111
frequency dependence of the displacement at beam tip is
represented in Figure 11. The temporal evolution of the
instantaneous fundamental frequency is determined from the
maximum ridge of the transform.
The modal curves of the first NNM are directly extracted from
the measured time series around specific time instants, related to
different energy levels. The first NNM at distinct response levels
is displayed in Figure 12. This plot presents the identified modal
curves and the associated modal shapes.
Figures 11 and 12 clearly reveal that the first NNM and its
oscillation frequency are strongly affected by nonlinearity for
increasing energy levels. The frequency increases with the
energy level, which confirms the hardening characteristic of
the structure. The NNM motions have also a marked energy
dependence. At high energy, the modal curves distinctly deviate
from a straight line, which reveals the higher harmonic contents
(mostly the third harmonic) in the response. It is particularly
pronounced given that the motion is represented in terms of
accelerations. The modal shape is also altered as shown in
Figure 12. At low energy, the NNM thus comes close to the
first LNM. In particular, the modal curve tends to a straight line
in the configuration space, and the NNM frequency corresponds
to the natural frequency of the first linear mode.
4 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Realizing that nonlinearity is a frequent occurrence in engi-
neering structures, the present paper is an attempt to propose a
rigorous, yet practical, nonlinear extension of classical, linear
modal analysis.
To address the limitations of existing analytic techniques, a
computational method, which relies on shooting and pseudo-
arclength continuation, is proposed for NNM calculation.
The NNMs of real-world structures, such as the full-scale
aircraft example discussed in this paper, can now be computed
accurately with reasonable computational burden.
To make NNMs a viable tool, this paper also laid down
the foundations for their identification from experimental
data. A two-step procedure, which involves nonlinear force
appropriation and free decay identification, was introduced and
demonstrated experimentally using an academic example.
The results presented herein clearly show promise to
progress toward practical modal analysis of nonlinear vibrating
structures. For instance, it can certainly be a solid basis
for extending standard ground vibration testing to nonlinear
aircrafts. Through the combination of EMA with TMA, finite
element model updating and validation of nonlinear structures
is also within reach.
Nevertheless, there is still much work to be done to provide a
broadly applicable framework, effective for complex structures.
Theoretical modal analysis
Further research should be carried out to develop a robust NNM
computation tool capable of dealing with a variety of large-scale
structures:
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 112

Thin beam part

Figure 7. Top plot: experimental set-up; bottom plot: close-up of the connection between the two beams.

100

50
Acc. (m/s2 )

50

100
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
Time (s)
3
x 10
2

1
Displ. (m)

2
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
Time (s)
Figure 8. Measured time series of the appropriated forced response of the first NNM ( = 39.91 Hz). Top plot: acceleration beam
tip; bottom plot; displacement at beam tip.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 113

80 80

60
Acc. at position 7 (m/s2 )

Acceleration (m/s2 )
40 60

20

0 40

20

40 20

60

80 0
60 40 20 0 20 40 60 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Acc. at position 3 (m/s2 ) Sensor position

Figure 9. Appropriated forced response of the first NNM of the test structure ( = 39.91 Hz). Left plot: Modal curve in a two-
dimensional projection of the configuration space in terms of measured accelerations. Right plot: Modal shape composed of
the amplitudes of the measured accelerations along the main beam.

3
x 10
2
NNM force
appropriation

1 NNM free decay

Displ. (m)

2
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Time (s)
Figure 10. Free decay identification of the first NNM of the test structure. Measured displacement at beam tip which is initiated
from the appropriated forced response ( = 39.91 Hz).
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011 114

45
NNM force
appropriation

40
Frequency (Hz)

35 NNM free decay

30

25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Time (s)
Figure 11. Wavelet transform of the measured free decay of the first NNM of the test structure initiated from the appropriated
forced response ( = 39.91 Hz). Temporal evolution of the instantaneous frequency of the displacement at the tip of the
beam, i.e., at position 7. The solid line corresponds to the maximum ridge of the transform.

80 80

60
Acc. at position 7 (m/s2 )

Acceleration (m/s2 )

40 60

20

0 40

20

40 20

60

80 0
60 40 20 0 20 40 60 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Acc. at position 3 (m/s2 ) Sensor position

Figure 12. First NNM of the test structure extracted from the measured free decay at five different energy levels. Left plot: modal
curves in a two-dimensional projection of the configuration space in terms of measured accelerations. Right plot: modal
shapes composed of the amplitudes of the measured accelerations along the main beam.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, EURODYN 2011
The framework developed in this paper only addresses
stiffness nonlinearities. An important contribution would thus
be to properly account for nonlinear damping (e.g., dry friction).
All structures considered in this work possess spatially
localized and smooth nonlinearities. More complicated
behaviors, such as distributed and nonsmooth nonlinearities,
should also be addressed.
Due to mode bifurcations, supernumerary NNMs with no
linear counterparts (i.e., those that are not the direct extension
of the LNMs) may exist. Therefore, the development of a robust
and automatic branch switching strategy would be a meaningful
advancement for facilitating their computation.
Experimental modal analysis
Further investigations need to be carried out to assess the
efficiency of the NNM identification method when applied to
real-world structures:
Because nonlinear systems undergo bifurcations, modal
interactions and shrinking basins of attraction, the practical
realization of nonlinear force appropriation is more challenging
than its linear counterpart. The development of a more general
constructive procedure for NNM force appropriation, resorting
to several shakers with harmonics of the fundamental frequency,
is of particular interest to ensure the robustness of the proposed
methodology.
The experimental methodology assumes that the damped
dynamics can be interpreted based on the NNMs of the
underlying conservative system. This issue deserves more
attention and should be investigated more thoroughly.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge his collaborators and
colleagues, Prof. L.A. Bergman, Prof. J.C. Golinval, Prof. Y.S.
Lee, Prof. D.M. Mc Farland and Prof. A.F. Vakakis without
whom this work would not have been possible. The author is
particularly grateful to Dr. M. Peeters; the results presented
herein have been mostly borrowed from his PhD thesis [25].
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