Detecting the position of non-linear component in periodic structures from the system responses to dual sinusoidal excitations

Based on the non-linear output frequency response functions (NOFRFs), a novel method is developed to detect the position of non-linear components in periodic structures. The detection procedure requires exciting the non-linear systems twice using two sinusoidal inputs separately. The frequencies of the two inputs are different; one frequency is twice as high as the other one. The validity of this method is demonstrated by numerical studies. Since the position of a non-linear component often corresponds to the location of defect in periodic structures, this new method is of great practical significance in fault diagnosis for mechanical and structural systems.