Above: The analyzer’s proportions, and a recent associated software update, will further help metal fabricators and metal finishers with their tasks.

Small, light, powerful analyzer identifies elements, finds flaws, ensures quality

May 2017 - “You do not need a therapist if you own a motorcycle,” says actor Dan Aykroyd, “any kind of motorcycle!” However, if you want onlookers to gaze adoringly at your ride, you need to protect its chrome-plated steel fender and let it gleam.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. designs and manufactures analytical instruments, laboratory equipment and specialty diagnostic tools for countless industries, including manufacturing something as iconic as a motorcycle. 

The company’s portable analytical instruments team introduced a Niton XL5 handheld x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer in September 2015. 

“American motorcycle manufacturers use the Niton XL5 analyzer to ensure that each plating layer of a fender is correct to reduce corrosion and, in particular, rust issues,” says Mark Lessard, business development manager at Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific.

The analyzer uses X-ray fluorescence technology, which is designed to offer accurate, nondestructive results.

“One manufacturer we work with prides itself on its chrome plating to ensure a fender has just the right amount of luster, sheen and brightness. If you don’t use this technology, you are trusting your plating shop. In today’s world, you can trust, but you have to verify.”

Apart from its adoption by companies building motorcycles, the Niton XL5 analyzer will benefit other manufacturers, metal fabricators, metal finishers, scrap metal recycling, and the oil and gas industry. This tool can help your motorcycle metal finishes shine while also safeguarding them from the elements. 

Meeting specs

This handheld, water-resistant and dust-proof device ensures material chemistry specifications are met, identifies alloys, recognizes tramp elements, examines valuable metals, and determines coating weight and plating thickness. 

In late March 2017, Thermo Fisher enhanced the Niton XL5 analyzer to include a coatings mode, to measure the thickness  of up to four coating layers. 

 “This analyzer is the smallest, lightest and most powerful alloy handheld XRF analyzer on the market,” claims Lessard, adding that the typical customer purchases approximately three devices or more.

“It provides alloy-grade identification and elemental composition of bulk and precious metals. The analyzer uses X-ray fluorescence technology, which is designed to offer accurate, nondestructive results to operators and quality-control personnel. 

Among real-world applications, civil engineers also use this analyzer to measure the coating on steel bridges, because these structures are galvanized to prevent corrosion. As Lessard explains, “It’s critical that the zinc plating is applied at the appropriate thickness to eliminate the chance for premature corrosion of a bridge that can lead to a bridge falling apart, which could have catastrophic consequences.” 

Furthermore, according to Lessard, the Niton XL5 unit is a valuable solution for customers “who need to be confident in the results they are getting from their technology, especially in a high-growth market such as metals fabrication. It features a proprietary 5W X-ray tube that is designed to consistently provide improved detection of light elements and laboratory quality results.”

Because the handheld device weighs just 2.8 pounds, “it has a small footprint that allows users to access difficult-to-reach welds, corners and joints while reducing user fatigue.”

In addition to being lightweight, the analyzer is also compact. Its small size, with dimensions of 9.54 inches by 8.19 inches by 2.67 inches, allows users to maximize their test coverage. 

Software update

Lessard indicates the analyzer’s proportions, and a recent associated software update, will further help metal fabricators and metal finishers with their tasks. “Our newest software update will most benefit users in metal fabrication and metal finishing, as it includes a coatings mode for the thickness measurement of up to four coating layers,” says Lessard. 

The analyzer will benefit manufacturers, metal fabricators, metal finishers, scrap metal recycling, and the oil and gas industries.

“The addition of a coatings mode will open the door to a wider base of customers who require more than just identification of alloys, compounds and pure metals, but also their thickness or weight. Coatings mode will also allow users to define substrate layers. This feature will be particularly useful in decorative finishing, because it will allow manufacturers to accurately and rapidly measure the chemical composition of metals in items, such as car door handles and bathroom faucets. They can save time and streamline their workflow through the coatings mode as well as the analyzer’s Wi-Fi capabilities. Wi-Fi support allows users to save time by transferring data easily and directly from the analyzer to a computer network.”

The updated tool’s uncomplicated and straightforward design is a major advantage for users, Lessard says. User-friendly technology consistently provides fast, accurate and lab-quality results. Moreover, a new feature lets operators scan materials with a single click, rather than pressing the trigger button throughout the whole process. 

Detection limits

Mathieu Bauer, associate product manager of portable analytical instruments, says that, from raw materials to a finished product, the Niton XL5 analyzer significantly improves customers’ ability to gain better detection limits, lessen measurement times and bolster an entire plant’s operation. 

“The addition of coatings mode opens up many new application opportunities for the Niton XL5 that will help improve our customers’ efficiency and process,” says Bauer. 

“Coatings are applied to products to improve corrosion and wear resistance, to modify the property of a surface, and for decorative purposes. With previous Niton XRF models, a user could only measure the coat weight or thickness of two layers. So, by doubling that number, we have made the Niton XL5 a more powerful instrument. It can now accurately analyze and measure a mono-elemental layer over an alloy, multiple mono-elemental layers, and binary alloys. 

“Since the composition of coated materials at the surface is different from their composition at the core,” he continues, “coatings mode improves accuracy and productivity.” 

The Niton XL5 analyzer can measure up to four coating layers with a standardless Fundamental-Parameter calibration. This means “there is no need for numerous samples to calibrate the instrument,” according to Bauer, who adds that this ability “is unique to the Niton XL5, making it versatile for our customers who require both alloy analysis and coatings measurement.” 

With roughly 50,000 employees in 50 countries, Thermo Fisher is continually refining and expanding its menu of products. As Lessard says, engineering fresh products is an unending task because its customers must “feel confident in the technology they use.” MM