Thickness Gauge Or Flaw Detector: Which Is Best For Your Application And Why?

Thickness gauge and flaw detector are two preferred techniques used for equipment testing. If you are into industrial equipment manufacturing, you might be familiar with these two, but do you know the difference between thickness gauge or flaw detector? While both devices are similar in some ways, they are used for different purposes. In this post, we will elaborate on the difference between thickness gauge and ultrasonic flaw detector and which one is best for your application.

The similarities between thickness gauge and ultrasonic flaw detectors

Ultrasonic thickness gauge and flaw detector are two equipment testing devices. They both use transducers to generate sound waves. Whether you use a thickness gauge or a flaw detector, both devices measure the time a sound wave takes to leave a transducer, travel through the test piece, cross the reflectors and return to the transducer. 

The thickness Gauge and flaw detector use the basic equation of-

Distance = (Velocity * Time) / 2

This equation is divided by two because the one-way time measurement to the reflector is enough to measure the effectiveness of the material.

The reflection and transition of high-frequency sound waves–also known as ultrasound waves—had long been an effective and reliable method for evaluating the integrity of welds. Apart from the leakage and structural changes, these two techniques are preferably used for testing structural metals, pipes and tanks, boiler tubes, railroad rails, aerospace equipment, and many other industrial applications. Further in this post, we will enumerate how to pick a suitable testing device for your application.

Ultrasonic testing equipment devices continue to be popular for their accuracy and availability. Being among the top Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge Manufacturers in India, Modsonic offers a range of equipment testing devices that are;

• Cost-effective, quick, and reliable
• It can be utilised with no test piece other than wetting with couplant
• It has minimal safety hazards or regulatory licensing requirements so that you can use it right away

If you are juggling between ultrasonic thickness gauge and flaw detector and wondering which is the right pick for you, let us assist you. Though selecting between these two largely depends on your purpose of testing, you can easily pick the right one based on their advantages. Before we discuss the key differences between ultrasonic thickness gauges and flaw detectors, let’s take a look at their use throughout the years.

History of ultrasonic testing devices

Ultrasonic testing equipment has been used for industrial applications for over six decades. Initially, the ultrasonic devices were released in the 1940s; most of those were flaw detector testing devices.

The very first digital thickness gauge (also known as “D Metres”) was released in the 1960s. However, the use of an ultrasonic flaw detector to measure thickness was more popular and preferred until the 1980s. But right after the ultrasonic thickness gauge started displaying an ongoing waveform, flaw detectors got an alternative. 

Nowadays, these small yet powerful devices come in either standard waveform or a software option. At Modsonic, we have the EDISON-1 thickness gauge device, which comes with a large 4-digit LCD display, and Einstein II DGS is an ultrasonic flaw detector device that has built-in DGS/AVG curves to provide time-efficient flaw size evaluation. Read on to know more about the capabilities of thickness gauge and ultrasonic flaw detectors and discover how they can be used for your application.

What is an ultrasonic thickness gauge?

Simply put, an ultrasonic thickness gauge is designed to accurately measure the thickness of the material and identify the surface corrosion/erosion from either side of the test piece. It can be used on almost any engineering material of metal, plastic, composites, fibreglass, and chemical, unless it is an engineering marvel.

Modsonic’s ultrasonic thickness gauge testing equipment can measure the thickness of a wide range of materials and products such as plastic tubes, aircraft turbine blades, pipes, or tanks.

Advantages of thickness gauge

Here are some of the advantages you can score with Modsonic’s thickness gauge testing devices.

• Easy to operate and can be utilised for any sort of equipment testing
• Provide a more consistent and accurate time of flight to ensure the accurate measurement of the total thickness of the test piece
• Equips with a large four-digit LCD display
• Operates on just two AA-size batteries
• One-step calibration saves time
• Measures a full range of probes for all applications across all industries

What is an ultrasonic flaw detector?

An ultrasonic flaw detector locates and sizes manufacturing defects such as cracks, voids, porosity, and disbonds in various materials and welded joints as well. Flaw detector devices can be used to measure any standard engineering material. However, most tests are done on steel and other structural metals, but ultrasonic flaw detectors can be used on plastics, composites, and fibreglass as well.

An ultrasonic flaw detector can also reasonably measure material thickness accurately; however, it is not designed for precision thickness.

Advantages of flaw detector

Take a sneak peek at the advantages of Modsonic’s ultrasonic flaw detector.

• It comes with built-in DGS/VGS curves to simplify measurement and get accurate flaw size evaluation
• Features TCG, which slows down decay with distance 
• Dynamic DAC curves change test range and gain after measurement
• Equips a built-in software in the assessment as per AWS standard
• Features specialised sizing defects;
  • Distance amplitude correction (DAC)
  • Time varied gain (TVG)
  • Distance gain sizing (DGS)

Suggestions to pick a thickness gauge or flaw detector

Let’s come down to applying ultrasonic thickness gauge and flaw detectors; what needs to be considered to pick your ideal testing equipment. For testing that requires repeatable precision and corrosion thickness gauge measurement, we would recommend Edison 1 or Edison 1M. These two are the latest ultrasonic thickness gauge devices from Modsonic. However, if you have to detect flaws or voids, or welds, a flaw detector is certainly the best choice. Talking about reliability and accuracy, both do their jobs well.

Modsonic is a market-leading ultrasonic testing device manufacturer and a preferred choice for ultrasonic thickness gauges and flaw detectors. Our testing devices are best-in-industry as they have undergone extensive research and development before reaching you. Check out our product line or call us to know more.