Measuring Torque is as easy as measuring Temperature

Question: Which practical and affordable solutions are available for example to measure a Torque applied to a 3 mm diameter shaft? Is it possible to measure Torque Forces in real-time from an already existing transmission shaft that is placed inside of tight gear box?

At the “Sensor & Test 2016” exhibition the sensor manufacturer TAM (Torque And More) introduced a USB-Stick sized Sensing Module that is capable of measuring changes in mechanical stress of any ferromagnetic object. With the “Active-3 Professional” (or A3-P) product family TAM is introducing a new generation of its Plug-and-Play Torque-force and Bending-force sensors.

The high resolution Sensing Modules cover a measurement range from 0.0001 to >1000 MPa (Mega Pascal) and can be applied to any transmitting shaft regardless of its power. Once initialised and calibrated, the A3-P Sensor System provides an analogue and a serial digital output signal, which represents the detected Torque and Bending forces in Newton-Meter. The measurements can be conducted at any shaft speed.

Reliable Torque measurements are taken as long as the air-gap between the Sensing Module and the transmission shaft does not exceed 3mm. This is a true non-contact sensor solution that is ideal for applications with limited space and offers aggressive cost targets.

In comparison to other sensor solutions, the A3-P Sensor can be applied to existing applications as there is no need for any physical modification of the transmission shaft, nor is there any need for processing the transmission shaft.

Founded by Lutz May in 2011, TAM is offering its Active Torque Sensor products as Standard Sensor Kits and as  application specific sensor solutions.