Experimental data from a test-bed structure tested is used to evaluate and validate a methodology for detecting, localizing, and quantifying structural changes in nonlinear structures using chain-like reduced-order models estimated from measurements. This study showed that variations in the mathematical representation (i.e., two-dimensional polynomial expansion) of the restoring forces in the estimated chain- like reduced-order models could be employed to confidently detect the presence of physical structural changes introduced into the test-bed structure, accurately locate the structural section where the changes occurred, and provide an estimate of the severity or magnitude of the structural changes.
