The Operating Principles Behind SolveTech’s High Performance Gauging Technology
SolveTech’s proprietary capacitance technology is unique to the market. In the video below, we demonstrate how we correlate the gauge response to thickness or basis weight. Additionally, we will discuss the general operating principles. If you have any questions regarding the technology, please contact us here to learn more.
MEASUREMENT PRINCIPLE: THE GENERAL THEORY
SolveTech’s measurement head generates an electric field between two measurement electrodes. When a material is placed in the field, it will respond to the imposed electrical stress.
For insulating materials, the resulting polarization of the material has a proportionality constant which is referred to as the Dielectric Constant. This response is a basic property of the material, and the gauge is extremely sensitive and stable in its response to changes in the amount of material present.
In addition, the gauging system allows for the response to be calibrated into meaningful measurement units such as thickness or basis weight. NIST traceable calibrations are possible using the technology and software package provided.
How will your material respond to an electric field?
For materials which are uniform in comparison and structure, the dielectric response will increase as thickness or quantity of material increases.
Since different types of materials can respond to varying degrees, a known thickness (or weight/area) of actual material of interest should be used to establish gauge calibration. Be alert to the fact that changes in moisture or temperature of the material being measured may cause the reading to shift.
A single measurement zone, called a “channel” can be used, or multiple channels can be used directly adjacent to each other or in a customized arrangement to gather readings in multiple regions simultaneously.
This technology is well suited for measuring the thickness of plastic films, ceramic tape, nonwovens and other non conductive materials. It can measure thin films with an accuracy of 0.001 mils/0.025 microns. It does not work for materials that are conductive, such as foil, or for materials that have highly variable moisture content.
SolveTech has refined this technology through over 35 years of constant technical improvement to the boundaries of physics, creating the world’s leading capacitance based gauging technology. The precision and stability are simply unmatched.
Contact us today to discuss your application!
Thickness Gauging Technology | Most Accurate Plastic Thickness Gauge | Capacitance Thickness Gauges
SolveTech, Inc. – 2018