It is known that, under the assumption of diffuse noise, the cross-correlation of acoustic signals recorded at two points of a medium allows to passively estimate the impulse response between these points. This principle, associated with coherent array processing, has been successfully applied to defect detection and localization in reverberant plates subject either to distributed noise sources or friction noise. In order to extend the applicability of this principle even in the absence of an adequate ambient noise, we have introduced the concept of secondary noise sources based on the conversion of low-frequency modal vibrations into high-frequency noise by exploiting frictional contact nonlinearities. The device consists of a mass-spring resonator coupled to a flexible beam by a rough frictional interface. The extremity of the beam, attached to the surface of a plate, excites efficiently flexural waves in the plate in the ultrasound range when the primary resonator vibrates around its natural frequency. We have shown that a set of such devices distributed on a plate excited by a shaker at low frequencies is able to produce high-frequency noise suitable for passive defect detection and localization based on noise correlation.