Dakota Digital CMX manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    OPERATION MANUAL DAKOTA ULTRASONICS C C M M X X Material & Coating Thickness Gauge P/N P - 170 - 0002 Rev 1. 30 , April 2008[...]

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    [...]

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    CHAPTER ONE INTRODUC TION ....................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO QUICK ST ARTUP GUIDE ........................................................ 2 CHAPTER THREE KEYBOA RD, MENU, & CONNECTO R REFERENCE ....... 22 CHAPTER FOUR PRINCIP ALS OF ULTRASONIC ME ASUREMENT ............. 30 CHAPTER FIVE SELECTI[...]

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    [...]

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    CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The Dakota Ultrasonics model CMX is an ultrasonic thickness ga uge that measures with extreme versatility. It has the ability to simultaneously measure coatings and material thicknesses while maintaining the ability to still locate pits, flaws and defects in the material. Based on the same operating principles as SO NAR, th[...]

  • Page 6

    2 CHAPTER TWO QUICK STARTUP GUIDE Turn the CMX on and off using the switch located on the bottom right corner of the keypad. When CMX is initially turned on, a flash log o and blinking lights will be displayed, followed by attempting to identify the transducer(probe) currently plugged into the gauge. The CMX is equipped with an “Auto Probe Recogn[...]

  • Page 7

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 3 B. Battery Icon – Indicates the amount of battery life the CMX has remaining. C. Velocity – The material velocity value the CMX is currently using or calibrated for. Displayed in both English or Metric units, depe nding on the what units the gauge is set for. D. Feature Status Bar ?[...]

  • Page 8

    Dakota Ultrasonics 4 2.2 Auto Probe Recognition When the CMX is initially powered up, the gauge will automatically check to see if the transducer plugged into the gauge can be recognized. The steps that follow assume the CMX rec ognized the probe type: Probe Automatically Recognized 1) Press the OK key once to use the identified probe, or ESC to di[...]

  • Page 9

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 5 3) Press the UP and DOWN arrow k eys to toggle the coating option on/off. 4) Wipe all couplant from the transducer face and advance to the Probe Zero & Calibration section outlined below. 2.3 Selecting t he Transducer Type If the CMX does not identify a specific transducer type on in[...]

  • Page 10

    Dakota Ultrasonics 6 Selecting the Transducer Type 1) Press the OK or ESC keys to display the factory list of transducer types (by diameter and frequency). 2) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the transducer list until the appropriate type is highligh ted.[...]

  • Page 11

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 7 3) Press the ENTER key to select the transducer type and display overwrite existing probe screen. 4) Press the OK key to overwrite the existing probe type with the newly selected probe type. The zero probe screen will be displayed. Proceed to the zero p robe section that follows. 2.4 Pro[...]

  • Page 12

    Dakota Ultrasonics 8 Performing an Auto Probe Zero (Off Block) Coating Probe Identified Coating Probe Not Identified 1) Be sure all couplant has been removed from the face of the transducer. 2) Press the OK key to perform the automatic probe zero, or ESC key to cancel the zero operation. Coating Probe Identified Coating Probe Not Identified 3) The [...]

  • Page 13

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 9 Performing a Manual Probe Zero (On Block) Note: When the zero probe option is set to manual, the probe zero disk (battery cap) located o n the top of the gauge, will be used as a zero standard and the warning screen illustrated above will be displayed. 1) Press the OK or ESC keys to ente[...]

  • Page 14

    Dakota Ultrasonics 10 Coating Probe Identified Coating Probe Not Identified 5) Press the ENTER key to display the confirmation screen. 6) If a coating transducer was identified use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to toggle coating on/off. 7) Press the OK key to complete the probe zero function, or ESC key to cancel the probe zero function. 8) Remove the[...]

  • Page 15

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 11 Using a Known Thickness Note: Be sure that the probe zero procedure has been performed prior to performing this calibration procedure. 1) Physically measure an exact sample of the material or a location directly on the material to be measured using a set of calipers or a digital microme[...]

  • Page 16

    Dakota Ultrasonics 12 4) Press the ENTER key to display the Digits Edit Box . 5) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll the highlighted value. 6) Press the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll the digit locations. 7) Repeat steps 5 & 6 until the known thickness value is correc tly displayed. 8) Press the OK key to calculate the velocity and [...]

  • Page 17

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 13 Performing a Coating Zero 1) Press the MULTI MODE key once to activate the measurement mode options. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until Coating Only (CT) mode is highligh ted. 3) Press the ENTER key to select the measurement mode and return to t[...]

  • Page 18

    Dakota Ultrasonics 14 6) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until ZERO COATING is highlighted. 7) Press the ENTER key to display the confirmation screen. 8) Press the OK key to zero the coating and retur n to the PRB menu, or ESC to cancel the coating zero process. 9) Press the MULTI MODE key once to activate the me[...]

  • Page 19

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 15 quick start section only the 1pt option PECT (pulse - echo coating) m ode will be covered. Refer to the calibration section of the manual for a complete explanation on the coating calibration options. T he following steps below outline the necessary steps to either set the velocity of t[...]

  • Page 20

    Dakota Ultrasonics 16 17) Repeat steps 4 & 5 until the velocity number is correctly displayed. 18) Press the OK key to set the coating velocity and return to the menu screen, or ESC to c ancel entering the coating velocity. 19) Finally, press the MEAS key to return to the measurement screen and begin taking readings. Known Coating Thickness Whe[...]

  • Page 21

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 17 Important Note: In PECT (pulse - echo coating) mode, the coating sample must be coupled to metal in order to calibrate successfully. Simply place a drop of couplant on a piece of metal, lay the coating sample over the couplant on the metal and proceed to step 2. 2) Apply a drop of coupl[...]

  • Page 22

    Dakota Ultrasonics 18 8) Press the OK key to calculate the coating velocity an d return to the menu screen, or ESC to cancel the one point calibration. 9) Finally, press the MEAS key to return to the measurement screen and begin taking readings. Note: CHECK YOUR CALIBRATION! Place the transducer back on the calibration point. The coa ting thickness[...]

  • Page 23

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 19 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until VIEW is highlighted. 3) Use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll the view options . 4) Once the view is displayed, press the MEAS key to return to measurement mode. DIGITS: Displays the digital thickness val[...]

  • Page 24

    Dakota Ultrasonics 20 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right and the ESC key multiple times to tab left until the DISP menu i s highlighted and displaying the submenu items. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until B - START or B - DEPTH is highli[...]

  • Page 25

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 21 5) Repeat steps 3 & 4 until the B - ST ART or B - DEP TH value is correctly displayed. 6) Press the OK key to set the B - ST ART or B - DEP TH value and return to the DISP menu , or ESC to cancel entering the B - ST ART or B - DEP TH value. Note: the adjusted value will appear next [...]

  • Page 26

    22 CHAPTER THREE KEYBOARD, MENU, & CO NNECT OR REFERENCE 3.1 Menu Key (Operation & Sub Menus) The Menu key activates the primary menu structure containing 8 menu tab groups. These tab groups then contain sub menu items, or functions. The sub menu items have been organized in tab groups acco rding to how closely they are related to the indiv[...]

  • Page 27

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 23 Activating and Getting Around in t he Menu Items 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right, and the ESC key multiple times to tab left until the desired tab group is highlighted and displaying the submenu items. The tab gro[...]

  • Page 28

    Dakota Ultrasonics 24 3.2 Probe – Menu ZERO PROBE : The CMX is zeroed in much the same way that a mechanical micrometer is zeroed. If the CMX is not zeroed correctly, all of the measurements made using the CMX may be in error by some fixed value. The CMX is equipped with an optional auto matic or manual zero feature. Refer to the section on page [...]

  • Page 29

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 25 COATING 1PT: Performs a single point coating calibration. This option allows the user to automatically calculate the velocity by measuring a known coating sample thickness. Refer to page 76 for further info. COATING 2PT: Performs a two - point coating calibration. This option allows the[...]

  • Page 30

    Dakota Ultrasonics 26 3.6 SETUP – Menu O PEN : Displays a list of factory and user defined setups currently stored in memory. These setups can be recalled and used at any time. Refer t o page 86 for further info. S AVE : Provides the user with the ability to save a custom setup that has been modified or created by the user. Refer to page 88 for f[...]

  • Page 31

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 27 3.8 XFER (transfer) – Menu BACKUP SETUPS : Enables the user the ability to backup the setups currently stored in the CMX to a PC via RS232 port. Refer the help section of the CMX DakView software for a complete electronic manual. RESTORE SETUPS : Enables the user the ability to restor[...]

  • Page 32

    Dakota Ultrasonics 28 3.13 Arrow Keys The Arrow Keys are used to navigate through the menus, increase/decrease values, and toggle specific function keys. 3.14 ENTER key The ENTER key is used in the overall menu selection process to activate list and edit boxes . 3.15 MULTI MODE Key The MULTI MODE key opens a measurement mode screen listing all the [...]

  • Page 33

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 29 3.17 Top & Bottom End Caps The top & bottom end panels are where all connections are made to the CMX . The diagram above shows the layout and description of the connectors: Transducer Connectors Refer to Diagram: The transducer connectors, and battery cover/probe zero disk are l[...]

  • Page 34

    30 CHAPTER FOUR PRINCIPALS OF ULTRAS ONIC MEASUREMENT 4.1 Time versus thickness relationship Ultrason ic thickness measurements depend on measuring the length of time it takes for sound to travel through the material being tested. The ratio of the thickness versus the time is known as the sound velocity. In order to make accurate measurements, a so[...]

  • Page 35

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 31 through air efficiently. By using a liquid couplant between t he transducer and test piece the amount of ultrasound entering the test piece is much greater. 4.5 Temperature Temperature has an effect on sound velocity. The higher the temperature, the slower sound travels in a material. H[...]

  • Page 36

    Dakota Ultrasonics 32 V - Path Correction Dual element delay line transducers have two piezoe lectric elements mounted at an angle on one end of the delay line. One element is used for transmitting sound, while the other element only receives sound. The two elements and their delay lines are packaged in a single housing but acoustically isolated fr[...]

  • Page 37

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 33 Dual Element Transducer in Echo to Echo mode Echo - Echo Verify Mode – Thru - Verify (E - EV ) The echo - echo verify mode measures between 3 reflections. Similar to E - E mode, this technique is commonly used to elimi nate errors from surface coatings and also to make measurements in[...]

  • Page 38

    Dakota Ultrasonics 34 Pulse - Echo Temperature Compensated Mode – Temp Comp (PETP) This is a custom mode that combines pulse - echo and electronic zero techniques to automatically adjust for temperature changes in the transducer as a result of an increasing/decreasing temperature gradient in the test material. Note: rough surface conditions can h[...]

  • Page 39

    35 CHAPTER FIVE SELECTING THE MEASUR EMENT MODE 5.1 The setup library The CMX contains 64 user configurable preset locations to store custom setups for easy recall. These setups can be optimized for the user’s specific application needs and can also be stored on a PC and transferred bi - directionally using Dakota’s PC interface software includ[...]

  • Page 40

    Dakota Ultrasonics 36 Thru Paint & Coatings Often times users will be faced with applications where the material will be coated with paint or some other type of epoxy material. Since the velocity of the coating is approximately 2.5 times slower than tha t of steel, pulse - echo mode will induce error if the coating or paint is not completely re[...]

  • Page 41

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 37 Restricted access M easur ing materials with extreme curvature s or restricted access, higher frequencies with smaller diameters should be considered. The smallest diameter uses 3/16” crystals with a c ontact area of .250”. Custom transducers are available on request. 5.3 Factory Se[...]

  • Page 42

    38 CHAPTER SIX MAK ING MEASUREMENTS The steps involved in making measurements are detailed in this section. The following sections outline how to setup and prepare your CMX for field use. An automatic or manual zero must always be performed. The auto zero is an off block e lectronic zero that does not require a zero reference block. This will most [...]

  • Page 43

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 39 In this first example the transducer was automatically identified: Probe Automatically Recognized 1) Press the OK key once to use the identified probe, or ESC to display a list of optional transducers. Note: if the CMX recognizes a specific transducer, the user should always select OK t[...]

  • Page 44

    Dakota Ultrasonics 40 3) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to toggle the coating option on/off. 4) Wipe all couplant from the transducer face and proceed to the Probe Zero sect ion that follows . In this second example the transducer was not identified and will force the user to select the transducer type fr om a predefined list of transducers: Sele[...]

  • Page 45

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 41 6) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the transducer list until the appropriate type is highlighted. 7) Press the ENTER key to select the transducer type and display overwrite existing probe sc reen. 8) Press the OK key to overwrite the existing probe type wit h the newl[...]

  • Page 46

    Dakota Ultrasonics 42 6.2 Probe zero The next step is to perform a probe zero. The zero function is a very important and necessary function that must be done prior to calibration. It should be done on a regular basis. In fact, the CMX has been programmed to force this issue at regular intervals during operation if it hasn’t been done. If t he CMX[...]

  • Page 47

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 43 2) Press the OK key to perform the automatic probe zero, or ESC key to cancel the zero operation. Coating Probe Identified Coating Probe Not Identified 3) The screens illustrated above will be briefly displayed followed by the main measurement screen. The CMX is ready to be calibrated. [...]

  • Page 48

    Dakota Ultrasonics 44 Note: When the zero probe option is set to manual, the probe zero disk (battery cap) located on the top of the gauge will be used as a zero standard and the warning screen illustrated above will be displayed. 1) Press the OK or ESC keys to enter the main m easurement screen and begin the manual zero process. 2) Apply a drop of[...]

  • Page 49

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 45 7) Press the OK key to compl ete the probe zero function, or ESC key to cancel the probe zero function. 8) Remove the transducer from the probe zero disk, and proceed to the calibration section. Note: The value that is displayed will change depending on the current velocity setting in t[...]

  • Page 50

    Dakota Ultrasonics 46 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right and the ESC key multiple times to tab left until the CAL menu is highlighted and displaying the submenu items. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until VELOCITY is highlighted. 3) Press [...]

  • Page 51

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 47 7) Press the OK key to set the velocity and return to the menu screen, or ESC to cancel entering the velocity. 8) Finally, pres s the MEAS key to return to the measurement screen and begin taking readings.[...]

  • Page 52

    Dakota Ultrasonics 48 Known Thickness Sometimes the sound velocity of a material is un known. In this case a sample with one or two known thickness es can be used to determine the sound velocity. As previously discussed, the CMX has a one or two point calibration option. The one point calibration option is most suited for linearity over large range[...]

  • Page 53

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 49 ESC key multipl e times to tab left until the CAL menu is highlighted and displaying the submenu items. 3) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until MATL 1PT is highlighted. 4) Press the ENTER key to display the Digits Edit Box . 5) Press the UP an d DOWN[...]

  • Page 54

    Dakota Ultrasonics 50 the job. For example, if the measurement range was .080” (2.03mm) to .250” (6.35mm), the user would perform a one point calibration on a known thickness sample close to .250” (6.35mm), followed by a two point calibration close to .080” (2.03mm). When a two point calibration is performed, the CMX calculates the zero and[...]

  • Page 55

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 51 4) Press the ENTER key to display the Digits Edit Box . 5) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll the highlighted value. 6) Press the LEFT and RIGH T arrow keys to scroll the digit locations. 7) Repeat steps 5 & 6 until the known thickness value is correctly displayed. 8) Press [...]

  • Page 56

    Dakota Ultrasonics 52 being tested. Use these values only if a close approximation is acceptable. Follow the steps below to select a basic material type: Select ing a Basic Material Type 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right and the ESC key multiple times to tab left until the CAL [...]

  • Page 57

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 53 4) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the material list until the appropriate material is highlighted . 5) Press the ENTER key to overwrite the material type and display the menu items with the new material type selected. 6) Finally, press the MEAS key to return to the m[...]

  • Page 58

    54 CHAPTER SEVEN USING THE DIGITS & B - SCAN DISPLAYS A key feature of the CMX is the ability to toggle between two different display options, Digits and B - Scan. The Digits view provides the user with a large digital readout of the thickness. Both views also include a scan bar features that uses a bar graph to indicate thickness. The Scan bar[...]

  • Page 59

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 55 7.1 Display Views DIGITS VIEW DIGITS The Digits view is a basic digital thickness gauge look and feel. The larger digits make it much easier for the operator to monitor the thickness readings. The Scan Bar has also been added to the Digits view to provide the user with yet another visua[...]

  • Page 60

    Dakota Ultrasonics 56 • Alarm Mode • Gain Setting E. Digital Material Thickness Value – Extra large font size for viewing ease. F. Scan Bar – Another view of material thickness in a deflection style horizontal bar. This is another visual tool that would enable the user the ability to see thickness changes during high speed scans from flaws [...]

  • Page 61

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 57 the user would see is a black screen from 0.00” – 1.00” with no view of the bottom contour at 1.75”. The following is a list of the viewable features on the display: A. Repeatability/Stability Indicator – This indicator should be commonly used in conjunction with the digital t[...]

  • Page 62

    Dakota Ultrasonics 58 7.2 Activating B - Scan View To use the B - Scan feature it must be enabled in the display menu. The following steps will help you do just that: Enabling the B - Scan Feature 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right, and the ESC key multiple times to tab left, un[...]

  • Page 63

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 59 7.3 Adjusting the B - Scan Start (B - ST ART ) & Depth (B - DEP TH ) In order to use the B - Scan and Scan Bar features of the CMX effectively, the starting depth and overall depth must be setup correctly. This can be adjusted using the B - ST ART and the B - DEP TH features of the [...]

  • Page 64

    Dakota Ultrasonics 60 Adjusting the Starting Depth (B - ST ART ) 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right, and the ESC key multiple times to tab left, until the DISP menu is highlighted and displ aying the submenu items. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu[...]

  • Page 65

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 61 5) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll the highlighted value. 6) Press the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll the digit locations. 7) Repeat steps 5 & 6 until the B - S tart value is correctly dis played. 8) Press the OK key to set the B - Start value and return to the menu [...]

  • Page 66

    Dakota Ultrasonics 62 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until B - DEPTH is highlighted. 3) Press the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll the value. When the correct width is being displayed, proceed to step 8 . 4) Alternatively , press the ENTER key to display the Digits Edit Box . 5) Press the UP and DOWN arrow[...]

  • Page 67

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 63 7.4 Gain The gain, or amplification of the return echoes, can be adjusted in the CMX to accommodate a variety of applications. The setting of the gain is crucial in order to obtain valid readings during the measurement process. Too much gain may result in erroneous measurements, by dete[...]

  • Page 68

    Dakota Ultrasonics 64 Adjusting the Gain 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right, and the ESC key multiple times to tab left, until the TUNE menu is highlighted and displaying the submenu items. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until GAIN is high[...]

  • Page 69

    65 CHAPTER EIGHT THRU PAINT MEASUREME NT TECHNIQUE 8.1 Introduction to Thru Paint Measurement The principle behind thru paint measurement is by measuring the time between two backwall echoes returning from the test material. Since both of these backwall echoes travel the same path through the paint or coating, the thickness of the coating is subtra[...]

  • Page 70

    66 CHAPTER NINE PULSE - ECHO COATING & COATING T ECHNIQUES 9.1 Introduction to Pulse - Echo Coating Measureme nt (PECT) In the previous sections we’ve discussed the need for detecting pits and flaws (pulse - echo) in materials, along with the requirement to measure through and eliminate errors caused by coated materials (echo - echo). Until n[...]

  • Page 71

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 67 3) From the tabbed menus under TUNE, MEASURE MODE . The steps that follow wi ll demonstrate all three methods in the order listed above: Probe Automatically Recognized (PECT only) 1) Press the OK key once to use the identified probe, or ESC to display a list of optional transducers. Not[...]

  • Page 72

    Dakota Ultrasonics 68 3) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to toggle the coating option on/off. Multi Mode Key Pressed (PECT & CT) Applied to Metals Not Applied to Metals 1) Press the MULTI MODE key located on bottom left of the keypad to display the MEASURE MODE options menu. 2) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to highlight the COATING ON (PECT[...]

  • Page 73

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 69 3) Press the ENTER key to enable the coating option, or ESC to cancel changing the measure mode, and return to the main measurement screen. Measure Mode (Tabbed Menus ) – (PECT & CT) Applied to Metals Not Applied to Metals 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab.[...]

  • Page 74

    Dakota Ultrasonics 70 9.3 Zero Coating In order to account for very slight electronic differences in transducers of the same type, frequenc y, and diameter, the CMX DL+ has been equipped with a “zero coating” feature. This enables the CMX DL+ to obtain very accurate readings on coatings, eliminating potential errors incurred from slight differe[...]

  • Page 75

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 71 5) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right and the ESC key multiple times to tab left until the PRB menu is highlighted and displayin g the submenu items. 6) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu item[...]

  • Page 76

    Dakota Ultrasonics 72 9.4 Coating Calibration (PECT) Known Velocity If the coating velocity is known, the user may wish to simply enter the velocity number into the CMX , rather than have the CMX calculate the velocity value using a known thickness on a coating sample (s) . The steps for entering the velocity are outlined below: Using a Known Mater[...]

  • Page 77

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 73 3) Press the ENTER key to display the Digits Edit Box . 4) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll the highlighted value. 5) Press the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll the digit locations. 6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 until the velocity number is correctly d isplayed. 7) Press the OK[...]

  • Page 78

    Dakota Ultrasonics 74 Known Thickness Sometimes the sound velocity o f a coating material is unknown. In this case a sample with a known thickness can be used to determine the sound velocity of the coating . As previously discussed, the CMX offers a one point calibration option for coating in PECT measurement mode. It is also import to reiterate th[...]

  • Page 79

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 75 and place the transducer in steady contact with the coating and sample or actual test material. Be sure that the reading is stable and the repeatability indicator, in the top left corner of the display, is fully lit and stable. Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Pre[...]

  • Page 80

    Dakota Ultrasonics 76 Note: CHECK YOUR CALIBRATION! Place the transducer back on the calibration point. The coating thickness reading should now match the known thickness. If the thickness is not correct, repeat the steps above. 9.5 Introduction to Coating Measuremen t (CT) In the previous sections we’ve discussed how to setup and use the coating[...]

  • Page 81

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 77 One Point Calibration Note: Use the maximu m coating sample for the one point calibration first. 1) Physically measure the thicker of the t wo samples of coating , as close as possible to the maximum expect ed coating measurement range , using a set of calipers or a digital micrometer. [...]

  • Page 82

    Dakota Ultrasonics 78 3) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until COATING 1PT is highlighted. 4) Press the ENTER key to display the Digits Edit Box . 5) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll the highlighted value. 6) Press the LEFT and RIGH T arrow keys to scroll the digit locations. 7) Repeat steps 5 & 6 u[...]

  • Page 83

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 79 Two Point Calibration Note: Use the minimum coating sample for the two point calibration. 1) Physically measure the thinnest of the two samples of the coating, as close as p ossible to the minimum expected coating measurement range, using a set of calipers or a digital micrometer. Very [...]

  • Page 84

    Dakota Ultrasonics 80 3) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until COATING 2 PT is highlighted. 4) Press the ENTER key to display the Digits Edit Box . 5) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll the highlighted value. 6) Press the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll the digit locations. 7) Repeat steps 5 & 6 u[...]

  • Page 85

    81 CHAPTER TEN ADDITIONAL FEATURES OF THE CMX 10.1 High Speed Scan The High Speed Scan feat ure of the CMX increases the overall repetition rate to a maximum of 140Hz with a high speed screen refresh rate of 25 times a second. This feature enables a user to make scanned passes over an arbitrary length of the test material, while still maintainin g [...]

  • Page 86

    Dakota Ultrasonics 82 4) Press the MEAS key to return to the measurement screen. 10.2 Alarm Mode The Alarm Mode feature of the CMX provides the user with a method of setting tolerances, or limits, for a particular application requirement. T his feature may be used for a variety of applications to verify the material is within the manufacturer speci[...]

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    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 83 Setting the Alarm Low Limit 1) Assuming the ALARM is ON , use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu item s until ALARM LOW is highlighted. 2) Press the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll the value. When the correct alarm value is being displayed, proceed to step 7 .[...]

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    Dakota Ultrasonics 84 6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 until the ALARM LOW value is correctly displayed. 7) If only one limit will be used, press the MEAS key to return to the measurement screen and begin taking readings. Otherwise, continue on to set the ALARM HIGH limit. 10.3 Differential Mode The Differential Mode of the CMX pro vides the user with the[...]

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    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 85 3) Use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to toggle the DIFFERENTIAL on. A value will appear to the right of DIFFERENTIAL . 4) Continue on to the next section “Setting the Differential Va lue ” . Setting the Differential Value 1) Assuming DIFFERENTIAL has been enabled and a value is bein[...]

  • Page 90

    86 CHAPTER ELEVEN SETUPS – CREATE, STORE, EDIT , & RECALL 11.1 Introduction to Setups Often times, users are faced with a variety of tasks and applications that are sometimes similar, but often times very differe nt. With a standard thickness gauge, the user would have to recalibrate for each individual application respectively. With all the [...]

  • Page 91

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 87 Opening a Setup 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right and the ESC key multiple times to tab left until the SETUP menu is highli ghted and displaying the submenu items. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through[...]

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    Dakota Ultrasonics 88 4) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the setups until the target setup is highlighted. 5) Press the ENTER key to activate the confirmation screen. 6) Press the OK key to load the setup from memory. 7) Press the MEAS key to return to the measure screen. 11.3 Saving a Setup Once the CMX parameters and features hav[...]

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    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 89 Saving a Setup 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right and the ESC key multiple tim es to tab left until the SETUP menu is highlighted and displaying the submenu items. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through [...]

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    Dakota Ultrasonics 90 5) When the parameter to edit is highlighted, press the ENTER key to activate the Alpha Edit Box . 6) Use the UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT arrow keys to scroll through the characters, the ENTER key to select characters, and the CLR key to backspace through the characters, until the Name or Note fields have been edited. 7) Press t[...]

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    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 91 10) Press the ENTER key to activate the Setup List Box . 11) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the setups until the target location to save the Setup is highl ighted. 12) Press the OK key to activate the confirmation screen. 13) Press the OK key to save the Setup , or ESC[...]

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    Dakota Ultrasonics 92 11.4 Deleting a Saved Setup This option allows a user to delete setup files that were previously saved and no l onger needed. It’s a simple feature to allow the user to do a bit of “house cleaning”. Deleting a Setup 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press the MENU key multiple times to tab right [...]

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    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 93 3) Press the ENTER key to display the Setup s List . 4) Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys to sc roll to the Setup Name . 5) When the Setup Name is highlighted, press the ENTER key to display the confirmation screen. 6) Press the OK key to delete the Setup File . 7) Finally, press the MEA[...]

  • Page 98

    Dakota Ultrasonics 94 Using the Default Setup 1) Press the MENU key once to activate the menu items tab. Press th e MENU key multiple times to tab right and the ESC key multiple times to tab left until the SETUP menu is highlighted and displaying the submenu items. 2) Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll through the sub menu items until DEFAULT[...]

  • Page 99

    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 95 11.6 Selecting a Language The CMX is equipped with a language option. Currently, the only languages supported are English, Spanish, and German. The s teps to select one of these languages are outlined as follows: Selecting a Language 1) Press the MENU key o nce to activate the menu item[...]

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    96 CHAPTER TWELVE USING THE UTILITY SO FTWARE 12.1 Computer System Requi rements DakView will run on many different operating systems: Windows 98 (1st or 2nd edition), Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows 2000 Advanced Server operating systems ru nning on Intel or AMD[...]

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    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 97 12.3 Using the XFER menu ( CMX ) Th e XFER menu of the CMX will be used in conjunction with the DakView PC software. The steps below outline the procedure for accessing the XFER menu and basic operation as follows: Accessing and Using the XFER Menu 1) Press the MENU key once to activate[...]

  • Page 102

    98 APPENDIX A - VE LOCITY TABLE Material sound velocity in/us sound velocity m/s Aluminum 0.2510 6375 Beryllium 0.5080 12903 Brass 0.1730 4394 Bronze 0.1390 3531 Cadmium 0.1090 2769 Columbium 0.1940 4928 Copper 0.1830 4648 Glass (plate) 0.2270 5766 Gly cerine 0.0760 1930 Gold 0.1280 3251 Inconel 0.2290 5817 Iron 0.2320 5893 Cast Iron 0.1800 (approx[...]

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    CMX High Performance Material & Coating Thickness Gauge 99 Tin 0.1310 3327 Titanium 0.2400 6096 Tungsten 0.2040 5182 Uranium 0.1330 3378 Water 0.0580 1473 Zinc 0.1660 4216 Zirconium 0.1830 4648[...]

  • Page 104

    100 APPENDIX A - SETUP LIBRARY Num Name Comment 1 Gn/AGC Velocity 1 Enter Custom name 2 … 3 … 4 … 5 … 6 … … …[...]