Coulomb friction has an influence on the behavior of numerous mechanical systems. Coulomb friction systems or dry friction systems are nonlinear in nature. This nonlinear behavior requires complex and time demanding analysis tools to capture the dynamics of these systems. Recently, efforts have been made to develop efficient analysis tools able to approximate the forced response of systems with dry friction. The objective of this paper is to introduce a methodology that assists in these efforts. In this method, the piecewise-linear nonlinear response is separated into individual linear responses that are coupled together through compatibility constraint equations. The new method is demonstrated on a number of systems of varying complexity. The results obtained by the new method are validated through the comparison with results obtained by time integration. The computational savings of the new method is also discussed.

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