At Line Coating Thickness and Plating Bath Analysis Using Handheld XRF
Introduction and Overview Seeing Beyond the Surface
Skyrocketing costs of metal coating materials such as zinc have driven the need for improved
process control. Anything other than the optimum coating thickness is unacceptable either from a quality control or cost control standpoint. The time has come for a fast, nondestructive, and accurate method of measuring coating thickness and coating weight, and analyzing plating bath solution. Handheld x-ray uorescence (XRF) offers general metal nishers and others the advantage of at line testing, eliminating the need to cut samples and spend valuable time taking the sample to a benchtop analyzer to wait for results. From general metal nishers concerned with corrosion resistance and wear resistance, to the automotive industry and its needs for passivation coating analysis, to aerospace with the added concerns of corrosion resistance at high temperatures and lubricity, the Niton XL3t has the appropriate application. Typical applications are:
• Galvanized zinc over steel• Zinc or zinc alloy over steel
• Hard chrome over steel
• Electroless nickel over steel
• Chrome/nickel/copper over steel, Zamak™ or plastic
• DACROMET Continuing a Tradition
Years of development and attention to customer needs have made Thermo Scientic Niton
alloy analyzers the rst choice in XRF technology, bringing lab-
quality elemental analysis wherever it is needed in a eld-hardened package. Now, in addition to superior positive grade identication and composition analysis of alloy/metal coatings and substrates, the Niton
® coating over steel Rock-Solid Analysis, Grade Identification, and Coating Thickness Measurement
One of the keys to success of Thermo Scientic Niton
analyzers suppliers in alloy analysis has long been the instruments’ fast, stable, accurate, and precise fundamental parameters (FP) based factory calibration. The Niton XL3’s proprietary FP analysis algorithm includes nearly every element of interest in virtually
® XL3t offers the benet of our coating thickness/coating weight measurement technology – providing an “out-
of-the-box” nondestructive solution for gauging the effectiveness of coating and plating systems. Fast and easy-to-use, the Niton XL3t 800 not only performs at line and plating bath solution analysis, but provides more accurate measurements than non-XRF technologies such as eddy current, magnetic induction, and Beta backscatter. You get precise, nondestructive multilayer coating thickness results in seconds. Testing at the plating line both increases productivity and improves process efciency – no more over-coating or under-coating. What’s more, the Niton XL3t is your answer to measuring large or irregularly shaped samples, as well as small-diameter wiring or tubing. Cutting samples for benchtop analysis are a thing of the past.
Niton XL3t Benefits At-a-Glance
• At line analysis – improved process efficiency and productivity • Totally nondestructive – sample stays intact on the line; no sample cutting • Accurate data – prevents over-coating, under-coating • Improved precision & composition analysis – identifies non-homogeneous coatings • Ease of use – simple to operate, even for nontechnical users • Fast, simple reporting and certificate generation