The thickness of a coating is an important factor that plays a vital role in defining the quality as well as its lifetime. Coatings and platings are applied to a wide variety of domestic and industrial products in different forms such as chrome plating, zinc plating, rubber coating, paint, etc. The primary motive of applying a coating to a product is to keep the product safe from rust, corrosion and give it a glossy and enhanced appearance.

For best control of quality, it is essential for technicians to make sure that the coatings applied to a product are of proper thickness. More thickness will lead to increase in the cost of the end product eventually leading to economic loss of the company. The lesser thickness of the coating will lead to lower quality and safety of the products. The best practice to accurately measure the thickness of the coating applied to a product is to perform Non-destructive measurement of thickness without causing any deformation to the coating surface.

Here are some commonly used coating thickness measuring gauges in industries.

Magnetic Thickness measuring gauges

Non-destructive coating thickness measurement is done using magnetic thickness gauges that provide highly accurate and repeatable results with greater stability. Most of the coatings are usually applied to surfaces of ferrous materials such as iron and steel. The magnetic thickness gauges can easily detect the thickness of the coating film using the magnetic properties of the surface. Most of the magnetic thickness gauges use the principle of hall’s effect to work accurately. The testing instruments are provided with a digital display that makes it easier to read the reading in terms of microns or mm. These gauges consist of a permanent magnet and a magnetic probe that is placed on the other side of the sample.

Electro-magnetic coating thickness gauges

The electromagnetic thickness gauges have exactly the same working as the magnetic ones except the fact that they are not equipped with a permanent magnet. There is an electromagnet incorporated in the instrument that helps in measuring the exact thickness of the gauge with the help of a magnetic probe.

Ultrasonic Coating thickness gauges

For the substrates that are non-ferrous in nature, magnetic gauges are not suitable. For such substrates, ultrasonic gauges are used. The instrument contains an ultrasonic transducer that is used for sending a sound pulse through the coating. When the pulse is reflected back from the substrate to the transducer, it is converted into a high-frequency electric signal. The time that pulse takes to reflect back from the substrate is used for calculation of the thickness of the coating.

Apart from these non-destructive ways of detecting thickness of a coating on a substrate, coating is also measured with the help of destructive methods. In this process, the substrate is cut into cross sections, and then the coating and substrate are viewed under a microscope and the thickness of the coating film is determined. The only problem the method has is that it requires cutting of the substrate that ultimately destroys it.

With the above-mentioned techniques, you can not only ensure that the coating applied on the products are of ideal thickness but also can assure best quality of products to your customers. For more information visit- http://www.testing-instruments.com/coating-thickness-gauge/

Kishore Kumar is associated with testing-instruments.com and he has written many articles on testing instruments, Coating Thickness Gauge etc. Learn more at http://www.testing-instruments.com/

Kishore Kumar is associated with http://testing-instruments.com and he has written many articles on testing instruments, Coating Thickness Gauge etc. Learn more at http://www.testing-instruments.com/

Author Bio: Kishore Kumar is associated with testing-instruments.com and he has written many articles on testing instruments, Coating Thickness Gauge etc. Learn more at http://www.testing-instruments.com/

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