Article From: 9/30/2008 Production Machining
The handheld Thermo Scientific Niton XL3t 800 XRF analyzer, with positive grade identification and composition analysis of alloy and metal coatings and substrates, now will offer the benefit of coating thickness and coating weight measurement, providing an out of the box, nondestructive solution for gaging the effectiveness of coating and plating systems.
Fast and easy to use, the instrument will not only perform at line and plating bath solution analysis, but provides more accurate data than non-XRF technologies, such as eddy current, magnetic induction and Beta backscatter. Users will get precise multilayer coating thickness results in seconds, the company says.
Testing at the plating line means increased productivity and improved process efficiency, eliminating over-coating or under-coating. Further, because the analyzer can measure irregularly shaped samples as well as small-diameter wiring or tubing, there is no longer a need to cut samples for benchtop analysis.
Skyrocketing costs of metal coating materials such as zinc have driven the need for improved process control. Anything other than optimum coating thickness is unacceptable either from a quality control or cost control standpoint.
The analyzer can provide the appropriate application for general metal finishers who are concerned with corrosion resistance and wear resistance, as well as the automotive industry with its need for passivation coating analysis or the aerospace industry that has the added concern of corrosion resistance at high temperatures and lubricity.
