Mechanical vibration sensor based on elastomagnetic composite

A mechanical vibration sensor based on a novel elastomagnetic composite made of magnetic microparticles uniformly dispersed in an elastic non-magnetic matrix is presented. A theoretical model predicting a linear behaviour of the sensor response with the vibration frequency and amplitude is reported. The obtained experimental results are in agreement with the model predictions for magnetic particle volume content lower than 15%. The ability of this kind of sensor to work at low frequencies, where other devices present a lack of reliability, is a very interesting characteristic of this elastomagnetic sensor.