Type of measurements
To ensure, check and guarantee the quality of the delivered products, Brüning Technische Coatings has measuring equipment to measure layer thickness, adhesion and color, among other things.
Depending on the wishes and requirements of the customers, reports and certificates can be delivered along with these measurements.
Measurements are always done with someone from the quality department and the operator.
This allows the operator to learn from what he has done.
Layer thickness
Layer thickness is a very important criterion for our coatings.
Not only because part of the quality of the coating depends on the layer thickness but also because it is important for the fit of the products.
Brüning Technische Coatings is able to non-destructively measure layer thickness on almost all types of metals and alloys.
Brüning Technische Coatings has high-quality film thickness gauges from Helmut Fischer.
For magnetic substrates we have equipment working according to the magnetic inductive principle; for non-magnetic substrates we have equipment working according to the eddy current principle.
Via the link www.helmut-fischer.com both principles are clearly explained.
From this measuring equipment, reports and certificates are prepared.
This ensures that the quality of the coating is always guaranteed.
Layer thickness measurements are often done as a sample at final inspection to ensure quality.
But this can also be extended.
For example, there can be a report per applied layer or a 100% final inspection can be applied.
This can then be realized on demand.
Measuring robot
Brüning Technische Coatings also has a fully automated measuring robot.
This robot measures coating thickness very accurately and consistently at a predetermined number of measurement points.
The robot is used for solid products that return frequently and are coated on the powder coating lines.
This ensures consistent production quality of the jobs and will always coat according to specifications.
These measurements are digitally processed and always reviewed with production at the beginning of the day.
Brüning Technische Coatings is working every day to expand the robot’s portfolio so that as many products as possible can be measured with the robot.
Adhesion
The adhesion of coatings can be tested by Brüning Technische Coatings with a scratch test.
This test is performed via a checkered adhesion test with the CC2000.
The CC2000 meets the ISO/DIN 2409 and ASTM D3359 standards.
The adhesion of the coating can be very important in products where a lot of force is applied, for example.
It should not be the case that when force is applied to the product the coating will jump off.
Also to achieve a high degree of corrosion resistance or to achieve high wear resistance, a perfect adhesion of the coating to the substrate is crucial.
Dino Lite
The Dino Lite is a microscope that magnifies 400 to 470x. This allows a very close look at coatings and can reveal things that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Think of hairline cracks, contaminations or holes. A cross-section can also be used to look at layer thickness. Think of layer thickness on rubbers; this is often difficult to measure. But with the Dino Lite a realistic picture can be given. The Dino Lite is often used internally to check/guarantee quality.
Color /Dr.
Long Color pen
The color spectrum is vast.
We are also making more and more use of the possibilities of color.
Architects, the automotive industry and many other industries are developing ranges.
Natural tones, ground colors; everything is almost possible.
To describe colors, comparisons are often made with objects.
For example, there is apple green or Ferrari red.
But what color is this exactly?
Brüning Technische Coatings has the equipment to measure color and put it into a “color space.
The measurements generate an L, A and B value.
This is also known as the CIEL*ab system.
These values determine the place of this color in the 3-dimensional color spectrum.
In this way, unambiguous color deviations can be determined, for example, the coated color compared to the desired color.
L* stands for lightness (0 to 100)
a* for the axis from green to red state (-128 to +127)
b* for the axis from yellow to blue stands (-128 to +127)
Brüning Technische Coatings is capable of using this equipment to measure the color difference between two colors.
The two colors, the original and the sprayed color, are then measured and put into the color space.
The color difference is calculated by calculating the distance between the two colors in the color space.
Delta E is the most common measurement here to express color difference.
Delta E is the resultant of the deviation on the red-green axis, the blue-yellow axis and the white-black axis.
The larger the Delta E the further apart the colors are.
With these measurements we can match colors and make sure they are as close as possible.
Dedicated tools
In addition to all the measurements taken on the products, general measurements are also taken.
For example, humidity is measured regularly in the factory.
If this is too high it can have adverse effects the coating.
The temperatures of the ovens are also measured using an infrared meter.
It is determined whether this matches the set temperature to ensure that the coating is cured at the correct temperature.
