This survey paper contains a review of the past and recent developments in system identification of nonlinear dynamical structures. The objective is to present some of the popular approaches that have been proposed in the technical literature, to illustrate them using numerical and experimental applications, to highlight their assets and limitations and to identify future directions in this research area. The fundamental differences between linear and nonlinear oscillations are also detailed in a tutorial.Theory is useful for drawing general conclusions from simple models, and computers are useful for drawing specific conclusions from complicated models (Bender, 2000 [1]). In the theory of mechanical vibrations, mathematical models-termed structural models-are helpful for the analysis of the dynamic behaviour of the structure being modeled.The demand for enhanced and reliable performance of vibrating structures in terms of weight, comfort, safety, noise and durability is ever increasing while, at the same time, there is a demand for shorter design cycles, longer operating life, minimisation of inspection and repair needs, and reduced costs. With the advent of powerful computers, it has become less expensive both in terms of cost and time to perform numerical simulations, than to run a sophisticated experiment. The consequence has been a considerable shift toward computer-aided design and numerical experiments, where structural models are employed to simulate experiments, and to perform accurate and reliable predictions of the structure's future behaviour.Even if we are entering the age of virtual prototyping (Van Der Auweraer, 2002 [2]), experimental testing and system identification still play a key role because they help the structural dynamicist to reconcile numerical predictions with experimental investigations. The term 'system identification' is sometimes used in a broader context in the technical literature and may also refer to the extraction of information about the structural behaviour directly from experimental data, i.e., without necessarily requesting a model (e.g., identification of the number of active modes or the presence of natural frequencies within a certain frequency range). In the present paper, system identification refers to the development (or the improvement) of structural models from input and output measurements performed on the real structure using vibration sensing devices.Linear system identification is a discipline that has evolved considerably during the last 30 years (Ljung, 1987 [3]; Soderstrom and Stoica, 1989 [4]). Modal parameter estimation-termed modal analysis-is indubitably the most popular approach to performing linear system identification in structural dynamics. The model of the system is known to be in the form of modal parameters, namely the natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping ratios. The popularity of modal analysis stems from its great generality; modal parameters can describe the behaviour of a system for any input type and any range of the input. Numerou...

International audienceThe concept of nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) is discussed in the present paper and its companion, Part II. Because there is virtually no application of the NNMs to large-scale engineering structures, these papers are an attempt to highlight several aspects that might drive their development in the future. Specifically, we support that (i) numerical methods for the continuation of periodic solutions pave the way for an effective and practical computation of NNMs, and (ii) time–frequency analysis is particularly suitable for the analysis of the resulting dynamics. Another objective of the present paper is to describe, in simple terms, and to illustrate the fundamental properties of NNMs. This is achieved to convince the structural dynamicist not necessarily acquainted with them that they are a useful framework for the analysis of nonlinear vibrating structures

Abstract. Modal analysis is used extensively for understanding the dynamic behavior of structures. However, a major concern for structural dynamicists is that its validity is limited to linear structures. New developments have been proposed in order to examine nonlinear systems, among which the theory based on nonlinear normal modes is indubitably the most appealing. In this paper, a different approach is adopted, and proper orthogonal decomposition is considered. The modes extracted from the decomposition may serve two purposes, namely order reduction by projecting high-dimensional data into a lower-dimensional space and feature extraction by revealing relevant but unexpected structure hidden in the data. The utility of the method for dynamic characterization and order reduction of linear and nonlinear mechanical systems is demonstrated in this study.

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We study energy pumping in an impulsively excited, two-degrees-of-freedom damped system with essential (nonlinearizable) nonlinearities by means of two analytical techniques. First, we transform the equations of motion using the action-angle variables of the underlying Hamiltonian system and bring them into the form where two-frequency averaging can be applied. We then show that energy pumping is due to resonance capture in the 1:1 resonance manifold of the system, and perform a perturbation analysis in an Oε neighborhood of this manifold in order to study the attracting region responsible for the resonance capture. The second method is based on the assumption of 1:1 internal resonance in the fast dynamics of the system, and utilizes complexification and averaging to develop analytical approximations to the nonlinear transient responses of the system in the energy pumping regime. The results compare favorably to numerical simulations. The practical implications of the energy pumping phenomenon are discussed.

The systems considered in this work are composed of weakly coupled, linear and essentially nonlinear (nonlinearizable) components. In Part I of this work we present numerical evidence of energy pumping in coupled nonlinear mechanical oscillators, i.e., of one-way (irreversible) “channeling” of externally imparted energy from the linear to the nonlinear part of the system, provided that the energy is above a critical level. Clearly, no such phenomenon is possible in the linear system. To obtain a better understanding of the energy pumping phenomenon we first analyze the dynamics of the underlying Hamiltonian system (corresponding to zero damping). First we reduce the equations of motion on an isoenergetic manifold of the dynamical flow, and then compute subharmonic orbits by employing nonsmooth transformation of coordinates which lead to nonlinear boundary value problems. It is conjectured that a 1:1 stable subharmonic orbit of the underlying Hamiltonian system is mainly responsible for the energy pumping phenomenon. This orbit cannot be excited at sufficiently low energies. In Part II of this work the energy pumping phenomenon is further analyzed, and it is shown that it is caused by transient resonance capture on a 1:1 resonance manifold of the system.

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We study the inducement of passive nonlinear sinks in linear vibrating systems. These are substructures that absorb vibrational energy in a one-way, irreversible fashion. The systems considered are composed of strongly coupled, grounded damped linear oscillators with a strongly nonlinear attachment at the end. Applying a complex averaging technique we derive a set of modulation equations that is directly amenable to physical interpretation, and provides insight into the energy pumping phenomenon. For the case of a two DOF system we show that nonlinear energy pumping occurs when a certain frequency of envelope modulation crosses through zero; then the dynamics of the envelope modulation of the motion resemble the dynamics of a forced rigid body. For the case of an impulsively loaded multi-DOF chain with a nonlinear attachment at the end, we show that after some initial transients the response of the nonlinear attachment sets to a motion dominated by a “fast” frequency identical to the lower bound of the propagation zone of the linear chain. This feature reduces the study of energy pumping in the chain to a two DOF equivalent problem. The applications of the energy pumping phenomenon to practical engineering problems are discussed.