| Summary: | Nonlinear modal analysis is a demanding yet imperative task to rigorously address real-life situations where the dynamics involved clearly exceed the limits of linear approximation. The specific case of geometric nonlinearities, where the effects induced by the second and higher-order terms in the strain−displacement relationship cannot be neglected, is of great significance for structural engineering in most of its fields of application—aerospace, civil construction, mechanical systems, and so on. However, this nonlinear behaviour is strongly affected by even small changes in stiffness or mass, e.g., by applying physically-attached sensors to the structure of interest. Indeed, the sensors placement introduces a certain amount of geometric hardening and mass variation, which becomes relevant for very flexible structures. The effects of mass loading, while highly recognised to be much larger in the nonlinear domain than in its linear counterpart, have seldom been explored experimentally. In this context, the aim of this paper is to perform a noncontact, full-field nonlinear investigation of the very light and very flexible XB-1 air wing prototype aluminum spar, applying the well-known resonance decay method. Video processing in general, and a high-speed, optical target tracking technique in particular, are proposed for this purpose; the methodology can be easily extended to any slender beam-like or plate-like element. Obtained results have been used to describe the first nonlinear normal mode of the spar in both unloaded and sensors-loaded conditions by means of their respective backbone curves. Noticeable changes were encountered between the two conditions when the structure undergoes large-amplitude flexural vibrations.
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