Saelig Introduces Unique Coltraco Portagauge 5 Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge

Portagauge 5 is an accurate and reliable non-destructive ultrasonic tool for characterizing and verifying the thickness of a range of materials, including most metals and hard plastics, based on a built-in database containing the characteristics of multiple materials

Saelig Company, Inc. has introduced the Coltraco Portagauge 5 - an accurate and reliable ultrasonic testing device for non-destructive characterizing and assessing thickness measurements for a range of materials, including most metals and hard plastics, based on a built-in database containing the characteristics of multiple materials. It is also possible to enter physical characteristics for custom materials not in the database. The Portagauge 5 can act as an additional quality assurance tool for meeting BS EN 15317:2013, the European standard for ultrasonic thickness measuring equipment. For marine applications, the Portagauge 5 meets Classification Society requirements for marine thickness gauge measurement equipment and its LCD backlight allows operation in dark, poor visibility spaces.

The Portagauge 5’s design uses multi-echo technology to totally ignore paint coatings up to 20mm in thickness, measuring the material’s true thickness with an accuracy to +/- 0.1mm on a variety of surfaces. The Portagauge 5 includes A-scan and oscilloscope trace functionality to assist with measurements, for observing material condition, and to help verify the desired return backwall echo, giving confidence of accurate thickness measurements every time. The Portagauge 5 probe emits a high energy pulse ultrasound which travels through an ultrasonic gel, any paint coating, and the object being tested and this pulse reflects from the material’s back wall. There is no requirement to remove a paint layer from the material since the Portagauge 5’s multi-echo ultrasonic technology takes into account the additional sound reflection and identifies the correct return echo representing the true wall thickness of the material and automatically calculates the object’s thickness. A minimum of three echoes are checked for each pulse with each multi-echo ultrasonic measurement.

Portagauge 5 is designed to use ultrasonic frequencies of 2.25MHz, 2.5MHz, or 5MHz, depending on the specific probe being used, in order to accommodate a variety of materials. Preprogrammed materials in the database include: carbon steel, stainless steel 304, stainless steel 316, cast iron, ductile iron, copper, PVC, lead, nylon, polyethylene, aluminum, asbestos and fiberglass. There is also an ability to input test data for materials not in the list.

Portagauge 5 uses dual element sensors containing two piezoelectric crystals, one acting as an ultrasonic transmitter and the other as an ultrasonic receiver. This gives the sensors an advantage over single element sensors when dealing with irregular surfaces in highly corroded materials, due to the pseudo focusing effect of the ultrasound beams. The reflected sound waves from the portion of the good material give an indication of how much the material has been corroded. The wall thickness measurement that is displayed represents the remaining wall thickness of the material that is in good condition. By comparing the wall thickness measurement from the Portagauge to the actual wall thickness of the material when it was in brand new condition allows the operator to determine the severity of the corrosion.

The Coltraco Portagauge 5 is made in UK by ultrasonics specialists Coltraco Ultrasonics, global leaders in the measurement and monitoring of systems that protect high-asset value and critical national infrastructure installations. It is supplied in a handy, robust carrying case. It is available now from now from Saelig Company, Inc. Fairport NY their authorized USA technical distributor.