1/1/2017 WhatisaCoatingThicknessGauge?

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WhatisaCoatingThicknessGauge?

Acoatingthicknessgauge(alsoreferredtoasapaintmeter)isusedtomeasure
dryfilmthickness.Dryfilmthicknessisprobablythemostcriticalmeasurement
inthecoatingsindustrybecauseofitsimpactonthecoatingprocess,qualityand
cost. Dry film thickness measurements can be used to evaluate a coatings
expectedlife,theproductsappearanceandperformance,andensurecompliance
withahostofInternationalStandards.

HowtomeasureDryFilmThickness

Dryfilmthickness(DFT)canbemeasuredusingtwomethods:destructive
thicknessmeasurement,wherethecoatingiscuttothesubstrateusinga
cutterandnondestructivecoatingthicknessmeasurement,usingtechniques
DestructiveCoatingThickness
whichdonotdamagethecoatingorthesubstratesuchasmagnetic,magnetic
Measurement
inductionandeddycurrentthicknessmeasurementmethods.

NondestructiveCoatingThickness
Measurement
Thenondestructivecoatingthicknessmeasurementscanbetakenoneither
magneticsteelsurfacesornonmagneticmetalsurfacessuchasstainlesssteel
oraluminium.Digitalcoatingthicknessgaugesareidealtomeasurecoating
thicknessonmetallicsubstrates.Electromagneticinductionisusedfornon
magneticcoatingsonferroussubstratessuchassteel,whilsttheeddycurrent
principleisusedfornonconductivecoatingsonnonferrousmetalsubstrates.

CoatingThicknessGauges

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Elcometeroffersawiderangeofcoatingthicknessgaugestomeasuredryfilmthickness.

TheElcometerrangeofdestructivecoatingthicknessgaugesincludestheElcometer121/4PaintInspection
Gauge.Thepaintinspectiongauge,commonlyknownastheP.I.G,isapopularmethodfordeterminingdry
filmthicknessesonnonmetallicsubstrates.

TheElcometerrangeofnondestructivecoatingthicknessgaugesincludesmechanicalanddigitalcoating
thicknessgauges,suitablefordryfilmtesting,completewithawiderangeofprobesandcalibrationfoilsto
suityourapplication.

MechanicalCoatingThicknessGauges

TheElcometerrangeofmechanicalcoatingthicknessgaugesprovidescost
effectivedryfilmthicknessmeasurement.MechanicalCoatingThicknessGauges
aresuitableforworkinginhighriskareassuchashightemperatureorflammable
atmospheres,underwaterorwheretheriskofexplosionishighandcouldbe
triggeredbytheuseofanelectronicinstrument.

FromthesimplestcoatingthicknessgaugeElcometer101whichwillprovideyou
withquickandimmediateresultstothemoreaccuratecoatingthicknessgauge
Elcometer211,alsocalledthe"bananagauge"whichisidealforcoldandunderwatersurfaces.

DigitalCoatingThicknessGauges

TheElcometerrangeofdigitalcoatingthicknessgaugeshasbeenspecificallydesignedtoprovidehighly
accurate,reliableandrepeatablecoatingthicknessmeasurementsonalmostanysubstrate,whetherferrous
ornonferrous.

ElcometerofferarangeofdigitalcoatingthicknessgaugesfromthenextgenerationElcometer456available
witheitherintegralorseparateprobes,theElcometer415IndustrialPaint&PowderThicknessGauge,tothe
Elcometer311AutomotivePaintMeter.

IntroducingtheElcometer456CoatingThicknessGauge
How to measure dry l...
ExperiencekeyattributesandbenefitsoftheElcometer456Coating
ThicknessGauge.ThisvideofeaturestheElcometer456integraland
separatemodelsperformingnondestructivecoatingthickness
measurementsonavarietyofapplications.

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How to Measure Dry Fil...
IntroducingtheElcometer415IndustrialPaint&Powder
ThicknessGauge
Simpletouse,withnocomplicatedinstructionsthenewElcometer
415makescoatingthicknessmeasurementsonflatorcurved,
smoothorthin,ferrousornonferroussubstratesreallyeasy.The
Elcometer415isidealforproductionlinetestingorsimplequality
checksoutinthefield.

IntroducingtheElcometer311AutomotivePaintMeter
How to measure vehicle...
ExperiencekeyattributesandbenefitsoftheElcometer311
AutomotivePaintMeter.ThisvideofeaturestheElcometer311
performingnondestructivepaintthicknessmeasurementsonasteel
andaluminiumcarbodypanels.Detectinghiddenautomotiverework
isnoweasierandfasterthaneverbefore.

HowdoesaCoatingThicknessGaugework?

Dryfilmthicknesscanbemeasuredoneithermagneticsteelsurfacesornonmagneticmetalsurfacessuchas
stainlesssteeloraluminiumusingadigitalcoatingthicknessgauge.Theprincipleofelectromagneticinduction
isusedfornonmagneticcoatingsonmagneticsubstratessuchassteel.Theeddycurrentprincipleisusedfor
nonconductivecoatingsonnonferrousmetalssubstrates.

PermanentMagnetCoatingThicknessGauges

Apermanentmagnetismountedonabalancedarmandtheforcerequiredtopullthismagnetfromthe
surfaceofthecoatingisameasureofthethicknessofthecoating.Forceisappliedthroughahelicalspring
attachedtothebalancedarmatoneendandtoascalewheelattheother.Asthescalewheelisturnedthe
forceisprogressivelyincreaseduntilthemagnetliftsfromthesurface.Thescaleisdrawninthicknessunits
ratherthanforceandthethicknessofthecoatingcanbereadagainstapointeronthecaseofthe
instrument.

ElectromagneticInductionCoatingThicknessGauges

Electroniccoatingthicknessgaugesformeasuringonmagneticsubstratematerialsusetheelectromagnetic
inductionprinciple.Athreecoilprobesystemisusedwherethecentralcoilispoweredbytheinstrumentand
theothertwocoils,eithersideofthecentralcoil,detecttheresultingmagneticfield.Thesignalgeneratedby
theinstrumentissinusoidalandthereforeanalternatingmagneticfieldisestablishedroundthecentralcoil.

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Whenthereisnomagneticmaterialsinfluencingtheprobethenthemagneticfield
cutsthroughtheothertwocoilsequally.Astheprobeisbroughtclosertothe
uncoatedsubstratethefieldbecomesunbalancedwithmorefieldcuttingthe
nearestcoilandlesscuttingthefurthestcoil.Thisproducesanetvoltagebetween
thetwocoilswhichisameasureofthedistancetothesubstrate(thecoating
thickness).

EddyCurrentCoatingThicknessGauges

Inthecaseoftheeddycurrentprinciple,asinglecoilprobeisusedwitha
relativelyhighfrequencysignal,severalmegahertz,togenerateanalternatingfieldinthenonferrousmetal
underthecoating.Thefieldcauseseddycurrentstocirculateinthesubstratewhichinturnhaveassociated
magneticfields.Thesefieldsinfluencethecoatingthicknessprobeandcausechangestotheelectrical
impedanceofthecoil.Thesechangesaredependantonthecoatingthickness.

HowaccurateareCoatingThicknessGauges?

Akeydecisionontheoverallselectionofasuitablecoatingthicknessgaugeishowaccuratedothereadings
needtobe?Withintherangeofgaugetypesavailable,thereisaprogressionfrommoderatelyaccurateto
veryaccurategauges,thisismirroredbythepricesofthecoatingthicknessgauges,themoreaccurate,the
higherthecost.Inadditionthecoatingapplicationprocessandotherfactorsaffectthevariabilityofthe
coatingthicknessonaparticularsurfaceandtheskillandknowledgeofthecoatingthicknessgaugeoperator
alsoinfluencesresults.

Whatdoes"accuracy"mean?

Thebasicmeasureofacoatingthicknessgauge'sperformanceistheaccuracywithwhichthegaugetakes
readings.Thatisthedifferencebetweenthereadingandthetruecoatingthickness.

HowtotestaCoatingThicknessGaugeforaccuracy

Inordertotesttheaccuracyofaparticulargaugeitisimportanttohavetraceablecoatingthickness
standards.Withthegaugeadjustedtozeroonanuncoatedsmoothsubstrateandsettoaknownthickness
standardatorneartothemaximumthickness,intermediatethicknessstandardsaremeasuredandthe
readingscomparedtotheactualthicknessofthestandard.Theerrorsarethedifferencesbetweenthevalues
ofthereadingandthevalueofthestandard.Thesearemostconvenientlyexpressedasapercentageofthe
reading.

TheimportanceofCoatingThicknessGaugeCalibration
How to calibrate the Elc...
Calibrationistheprocesswherebymanufacturersofacoating
thicknessgaugesetsup,duringmanufacture,toensurethatthe
gaugemeetstherequiredaccuracyspecification.Theprocedure
normallyrequiresthecoatingthicknessgaugetobesettoknown
valuesofthicknessandcheckedonintermediatethicknessvalues.In
modernelectronicinstrumentsthevaluesatkeypointsacrossthe
coatingthicknessrangearestoredasreferencepointsinthememory
ofthegauge.

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WhyyouneedtoCalibrateaCoatingThicknessGaugebeforetesting

Calibrationofcoatingthicknessgaugeswillbeaffectedbythetypeofmaterial,the
shapeandthesurfacefinishofthemetalsubstratetobetested.Forexamplethe
magneticpropertiesofsteelalloysvaryandtheconductivityofdifferent
aluminiumalloysanddifferentnonferrousmetals,copper,brass,stainlesssteel
etc.alsovary.Thesevariationscanaffectthelinearityofacoatingthickness
gauge.Thismeansthatagaugesetuponmildsteelforexamplewillreada
differentvalueforthesamethicknesscoatingonhighcarbonsteel.Similar
linearityeffectsareseenonthinorcurvedsubstratesandparticularlyonprofiled
substratessuchasblastcleanedsteelusedforstructuralsteelworks.

Toovercometheseeffectsmostcoatingthicknessgaugeshavefeaturesthatallowyoutosetthegaugeto
theworkbeingcarriedout,thusmaximisingtheaccuracyofthereadings.

AdjustingaCoatingThicknessGauge

Adjustmentisthetechniquewherebyyoucansetupthecoatingthicknessgaugefortheconditionsprevailing
fortheworkinhand.Inadditiontomaterialdifferences,shapeandsurfacefinishtheadjustmentmaybe
carriedoutatanelevatedtemperatureorinthepresenceofastraymagneticfield.Byadjustingthecoating
thicknessgaugetotheseprevailingconditionstheresultingerrorsaregreatlyreducedandeveneliminated.

Theeffectofsurfaceroughness,particularlythatproducedbydeliberatelyprofiling
thesubstratebyblastcleaningwitheithergritorshotorbymechanicalcleaning,
isquitesignificant,tofindoutmoreclickhere.

UsingCoatingThicknessStandardtoCalibrateaCoatingThickness
Gauge

Therearetwobasictypesofcoatingthicknessstandard,foilsandprecoated
metal.Formoreinformationoncoatingthicknessstandardsforcoatingthickness
gaugesclickhere.

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