Abstract: A novel method for nonlinear force reconstruction has been developed to reproduce the stick-slip friction contact behav? iors of joint interface. Nonlinear substructure modeling is employed to simplify the complex jointed structures into the linear sub? structures and nonlinear joints. An inversion technique has been developed to eliminate the singularity of transfer matrix， extracting only the transfer relationship between the degree-of-freedoms of nonlinear joints and measuring locations. The harmonic balance method is used to directly apply the measured nonlinear dynamic responses of the linear substructures to reconstruct local hysteresis nonlinear contact forces of the bolted joint interface. Numerical simulations and experimental investigations of a lap-type bolted joint beam system have been performed to verify the nonlinear force reconstruction process， and to investigate the effects of stickslip friction contact at the bolted joint interface. The good agreement between the comparison results validates the proposed nonlin? ear force reconstruction method， and the reconstructed nonlinear virtual excitation can be further used to detect the loss of bolt pre? load effectively.