In all fields of industrial assessments, the use of an ultrasonic thickness gauge for non-destructive testing to verify material qualities such as thickness measurement is standard. The ability to measure thickness without requiring reach to both sides of the test piece opens up a wide range of possibilities for this technology. To test glass, ceramics, metal, and other materials, thickness gauges, ultrasonic coating thickness gauges, digital thickness gauges, and many other options are available. The time that is taken by it for the sound to travel from the transducer by which the material to the back of a part and back is measured by a rugged ultrasonic thickness gauge. The data is then calculated using the speed of sound passing through the tested material by the ultrasonic thickness gauge.
First ultrasonic gauge:
Werner Sobek, a Polish engineer from Katowice, invented the first ultrasonic thickness gauge in 1967. This first ultrasonic thickness gauge evaluated the speed of the waves it emitted in certain test samples, then used a mathematical calculation to derive the thickness in micrometers from this speed measurement.
Types of transducers in ultrasonic thickness gauge:
Ultrasonic thickness gauges can be made with two different types of transducers. These are piezoelectric and EMAT sensors, respectively. When both types of transducers are stimulated, sound waves are sent into the material. These transducers typically operate at a fixed frequency; however, certain thickness gauges allow for frequency tuning to investigate a wider range of materials. An ultrasonic thickness gauge’s standard frequency is 5 MHz
Modern thickness gauge:
There are numerous high-tech models on the market nowadays. Modern digital thickness gauges can save data and send it to a variety of different data logging devices. Operators benefit from a user-friendly interface as well as preserved data and settings. This enables even inexperienced users to acquire precise and cost-effective measurements.
Pros of ultrasonic thickness gauge:
It is a technique that is non-destructive. It is not necessary to have reached both sides of the sample. Coatings, linings, and other materials can be accommodated. Standard timing techniques can produce good accuracy (0.1 mm or less). It is simple to use and does not necessitate laboratory settings. The usage of couplant is not required in EMAT. EMAT can assess the thickness of metals via corrosion and other surface coatings. There is no need to remove the metal’s covering.
Use of the thickness gauge:
In industrial situations such as mining, an ultrasonic thickness gauge is typically used to monitor metal thickness or weld quality. Steel plating in sides, tanks, decks, and the superstructure is reached by NDE technicians using portable ultrasonic gauge probes. By just touching the steel with the measurement head, they can determine its thickness (transducer). Before pushing the probe on metal, it is normally necessary to remove the visible corrosion scale and then apply petroleum jelly or another couplant. The use of couplant is not required when using an ultrasonic thickness gauge with an electromagnetic acoustic transducer.
Conclusion:
Ultrasonic thickness measurement gauge is a non-destructive measurement (gauging) of the local thickness of a solid element (typically made of metal if using ultrasound testing for industrial purposes) based on the time it takes for the ultrasound wave to return to the surface in the field of industrial ultrasonic testing. An ultrasonic thickness gauge is commonly used for this type of measurement.