Precision Ultrasonic Gaging - Other Materials

Other Materials

In addition to measuring common metals and plastics, ultrasonic gages can be used in a wide variety of other applications, only a few of which are listed here.

Rubber products - Sound attenuation in rubber is typically high in comparison to other materials, but thickness can usually be measured with high penetration gages. Common applications include wall thickness of rubber tubing, total thickness and depth of reinforcement in rubber conveyor belts, and tread thickness in tires.

Ceramics - Most structural and electronic ceramics are well suited for ultrasonic gaging, including ceramic tubing, containers, turbine blades and valves, and ceramic coatings. Ultrasonic gages can also be used for testing elastic modulus measurement by means of sound velocity measurement.

Glassware - Glass is typically highly transmissive to sound waves, and glass containers, small diameter glass tubing, scientific glassware, light bulbs, glass coatings, and similar products can all be measured.

Liquid level - Ultrasonic gages can frequently measure the height or depth of liquids inside sealed containers, and in situations where traditional methods such as dipsticks or calibration floats cannot be employed. Go/no go techniques can often be used to determine the presence or absence of liquid at a particular point in a tank or other container.

Soft contact lenses - It is possible to ultrasonically measure the thickness of soft contact lenses, which are difficult to measure mechanically without distorting their shape, and also calculate base curve from an ultrasonic measurement of sagittal height.

Wax patterns - The thickness of the wax patterns used to create molds for turbine blades and similar precision products in the lost wax casting process can be measured, including the thickness of wax over ceramic cores.

Biological samples - Thickness of soft tissue such as skin, muscle, fat, and blood vessel walls can frequently be measured in biomedical research applications.

For more detailed information, go to thickness measurement

Continue on to Chapter 9 - Appendices