A Moment and Axial Force Sensor Using a Self-Decoupled, Passive and Wireless Method

A moment and axial force sensor using a self-decoupled, passive and wireless method was proposed, designed, analyzed, fabricated and tested. A specially designed mechanical structure based on a joint ball bearing was proposed to realize the intrinsic self-decoupling operation. Two pieces of Metglas 2826MB magnetostrictive material were attached at predesignated positions on a mechanical structure to detect the moment and axial force separately. The magnetostrictive material enabled the passive and wireless detection based on the Villari effect. An analysis model was established to derive the relationship between the input forces and output voltages. Experiments were carried out to verify the self-decoupling performance, dynamic performance, drift performance and hysteresis performance of the sensor. We proved that the decoupling error of the sensor was less than 2.4%, the dynamic error of the sensor was less than 6.15%, and the sensor could fulfill passive and wireless detection. Compared with traditional multidimensional sensors, our sensor showed advantages of intrinsic self-decoupling, passive and wireless, and dynamic detection. These advantages enable the sensor to have potential applications in cutting tool force detection, sealed gearboxes, etc.