A method for identification of non-linear multi-degree-of-freedom systems

System identification methods for non-linear aeroelastic systems could find uses in many aeroelastic applications such as validating finite element models and tracking the stability of aircraft during flight flutter testing. The effectiveness of existing non-linear system identification techniques is limited by various factors such as the complexity of the system under investigation and the type of non-linearities present. In this work, a new approach is introduced which can identify multi-degree-of-freedom systems featuring any type of non-linear function, including discontinuous functions. The method is shown to yield accurate identification of three mathematical models of aeroelastic systems containing a wide range of structural non-linearities.