“…This type of non-linear damage is exemplified by breathing cracks [ 12 , 13 , 14 ] and material stratification [ 15 , 16 ]. Wavelet-based time-frequency methods are representative techniques for characterizing structural progressive degradation or deterioration, the first type of non-linear damage, with its ability to detect the relationship between frequencies and its time dependence, and has a certain noise robustness [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Nevertheless, the method suitable for characterizing the second type of non-linear damage, particularly the breathing crack, is pretty absent while desirable.…”