Thermo Fisher Scientific has upgraded its Niton XL3t 800 Series XRF analyser.
The analyser offers coating-thickness and coating-weight measurement, providing an at-line, non-destructive way of gauging coating and plating system effectiveness.
The hand-held analyser, already known for its positive grade identification and composition analysis of alloy and metal-coatings and substrates, will perform plating bath solution analysis, providing 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.
Testing at the plating line means increased productivity and improved process efficiency, eliminating over or undercoating.
Because the Niton XL3t can measure irregularly shaped samples as well as small-diameter wiring or tubing, there is no longer a need to cut samples for bench-top analysis.
Growing costs of metal coating materials such as zinc have driven the need for improved process control.
Mark Lessard, business development manager for alloy and coatings for the Niton Analysers business unit at Thermo Fisher, said: 'Anything other than optimum coating thickness is unacceptable from a quality control or cost control standpoint.
'Our analyser can provide the appropriate application for general metal finishers who are concerned with corrosion resistance and wear resistance; the automotive industry with its need for passivation coating analysis; or the aerospace industry, which has the added concern of corrosion resistance at high temperatures and lubricity.'