Contactless measurement of torque

This paper describes a micromechanical sensor for contactless detection of torque at rotating shafts. The sensor consists of a silicon chip and uses a magnetoelastic principle for measurement. A closed magnetic loop is formed by the sensor chip and a magnetoelastic layer which is applied to the shaft. The coil which generates the magnetic field and magnetic field sensors are part of the sensorchip. The general measurement concept as well as the optimization of the system using finite-element-modeling are presented together with details about the fabrication of the coils, the magnetic sensors and an analysis of measuring results of the first laboratory samples of the complete sensor. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.