Semi-active actuators have been used in engineering systems for vibration control purposes. For instance, magnetorheological (MR) dampers are applied in support of vehicle seats and smart suspensions of bridges and buildings. Parametric and nonparametric approaches were developed to model MR actuators, in which the former presents well-established and representative models. In this context, this work aims at comparing the so-called Bingham, modified Bouc-Wen (BW), and hysteretic models dedicated to MR actuators. Typical inverse problems were solved to minimize the difference between the forces determined by using these models and experimental data. The obtained results demonstrated that the hysteretic model is better adapted to represent the considered MR actuator, presenting lower computational cost and easy implementation. Additionally, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses based on the interval approach were applied on the updated MR models aiming to determine the working envelopes associated with the most important parameters of the models.

materials, hydrodynamic and magnetic bearings, and smart rotating machines. The financial support of the official agencies CNPq, CAPES, and FAPEMIG are highly appreciated. Finally, it is worth mentioning that a significant part of the work conveyed has been developed with the participation of the industry. In this context, the authors are thankful to the financial support provided by the companies Embraer and Petrobrás. In particular, the authors are thankful to CERAN, BAESA, ENERCAN, CPFL Energia, and Foz do Chapecó for the financial support through the R&D project Robust Modeling for the Diagnosis of Defects in Generating Units (ANEEL 02476-3108/2016).