Calowear

Calowear Description:

The Calotest provides quick, simple and inexpensive determination of coating thickness. A sphere of a known diameter is rotated against the coating surface and the addition of an abrasive slurry causes a spherically-shaped depression to be abraded through the coating and into the substrate. Subsequent inspection of the depression with optical microscopy reveals the projected surfaces of the abraded coating and substrate sections. By measuring the parameters X and Y, the thickness of the coating D can be calculated by a simple geometrical equation.

The Calowear takes this principle one step further: by monitoring the load applied by the rotating sphere with an integrated load cell, it is possible to abrade the coating in a controlled way. A pump supplies a continuous feed of abrasive slurry to the interface thus maintaining a three-body wear system.

The normal force between the sphere and the specimen can be derived from the weight of the sphere. Instead of simply abrading a crater in one step, the Calowear is used to abrade a crater over several time intervals. At each interval, the crater geometry is measured by optical microscopy and the applied load is recorded. This allows the wear rate of the coating and substrate to be accurately evaluated in addition to the thickness.

Features

    Determination of wear rates of coating and substrate,
    Determination of coating thicknesses
    Applicable to a wide variety of materials
    EXCEL data evaluation macro

Main Specifications

    Working table dimension : 50 x 50 mm
    Shaft speed : 60 to 1200 rpm
    Standard ball diameters : 20, 25, 30mm
    Abrasion time ranges: 10 - 90 sec to 1 - 9 min