doi:10.1016/j.mechatronics.2018.10.009engRamirez-Laboreo, E.Sagues, C.Reluctance actuator characterization via FEM simulations and experimental testsART-2018-108753Modeling the reluctance of an electromagnetic actuator is a critical step to analyze its dynamics and design model-based controllers. On the one hand, analytical expressions based on either theoretical or empirical models often lack accuracy due to model inconsistencies. On the other, numerical methods are much more precise but require exact information about the system geometry, materials and winding configuration. In this paper we present a new method that brings together the good properties of the finite element method and of system identification techniques to obtain an accurate description of the reluctance and its derivative. Since the method is designed to identify the unknown parameters of the system, it is particularly well suited for modeling existing commercial devices. An application on a safety valve used in gas lines is included to illustrate the method and a discussion on the results shows the advantages of our proposal.2018http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/9546010.1016/j.mechatronics.2018.10.009http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/95460oai:zaguan.unizar.es:95460info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MEC/FPU14-04171info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/RTC-2014-1847-6MECHATRONICS 56 (2018), 58-66by-nc-ndhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess