With a wide array of materials available to use for inductive sensing, what factor determines if the material being used is ideal for this technology?
In order to understand what materials works best for inductive sensing we first must understand how inductive sensors work. Inductive sensors are designed to detect metal targets through the use of eddy currents. When the conductive target interacts with an AC magnetic field of a coil, the eddy currents are induced on the conductor’s surface (reference figure below).
The amount of eddy currents that are generated on the conductive targets surface is directly related to the electrical conductivity (σ) of the target’s material. A material with higher electrical conductivity (σ) such as silver, copper, and aluminum tend to be optimal targets for inductive sensing technologies. The table below lists various materials and their respective conductivity.
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