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Summary of Contents for DAKOTA ULTRASONICS PR-9
- Page 1 OPERATION MANUAL DAKOTA ULTRASONICS Sonic Thickness Tester - Racing P/N P-309-0002 Rev 1.11, November 2019...
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ..............1 1.1 D ......................... 1 ISCLAIMER CHAPTER TWO KEYPAD, MENU, DISPLAY & CONNECTORS ..... 2 2.1 ON/OFF/ENTER K … ..................... 2 2.2 PRB 0 K … ........................2 2.3 CAL K ….......................... 3 2.4 LIGHT K …. - Page 4 APPENDIX B- APPLICATION NOTES ............26 ...
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Page 5: Chapter One Introduction
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The Dakota Ultrasonics model PR-9 is a basic dual element sonic tester with the ability to locate blind surface pitting and internal defects/flaws in materials. Based on the same operating principles as SONAR, the PR-9 is capable of measuring the thickness of various materials with accuracy as high as ... -
Page 6: Chapter Two Keypad, Menu, Display & Connectors
2.2 PRB 0 Key The PRB 0 key is used to “zero” the PR-9 in much the same way that a mechanical micrometer is zeroed. If the gauge is not zeroed correctly, all of the measurements that the gauge makes may be in error by some fixed value. -
Page 7: Cal Key
PR-9 Sonic thickness tester 2.3 CAL Key The CAL key is used to enter and exit the PR-9's calibration mode. This mode is used to adjust the sound velocity value that the PR-9 will use when calculating thickness. The tool will either calculate the sound-velocity from a sample of the material being measured, or allow a known velocity value to be entered directly. - Page 8 The icons and segments that will be used with the PR-9 are shown in the diagram above.
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Page 9: The Transducer
7 segment area. I. Small 14 Segment: Displays the current gain setting of the PR-9 which will always display medium (MED). J. Units: This combination of icons are illuminated in different sequences to inform the user what measurement units are currently being displayed in the large 7 segment area. - Page 10 The Stability Indicator should have six or seven bars darkened, and a number should appear in the display. If the PR-9 has been properly "zeroed" (see page 13) and set to the correct sound velocity (see page 14), the number in the display will indicate the actual thickness of the material directly beneath the transducer.
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Page 11: Top End Cap
When the transducer is removed from the surface, the display will hold the last measurement made. 2.10 Top End Cap The top end cap is where all connections are made to the PR-9. 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 located on the PR-9’s top end cap. -
Page 12: Chapter Three Principals Of Ultrasonic Measurement
CHAPTER THREE PRINCIPALS OF ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT 3.1 Time versus thickness relationship Ultrasonic 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 sound velocity must be determined and entered into the instrument. -
Page 13: Temperature
PR-9, and the PRB 0 key pressed to establish a zero point for the transducer connected. If the Auto Zero feature is enabled, simply pressing the PRB 0 key will perform an electronic zero to establish the same zero point. - Page 14 Dakota Ultrasonics two elements and their delay lines are packaged in a single housing but acoustically isolated from each other with an insulated sound barrier. This allows the transducer the ability to achieve very high sensitivity for detecting small defects. Also, the surface of the test material does not have to be as flat in order to obtain good measurements.
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Page 15: Chapter Four Selecting The Measurement Mode
CHAPTER FOUR SELECTING THE MEASUREMENT MODE 4.1 Which mode & transducer do I use for my application? High penetration plastics and castings The most common mode for these types of applications is pulse-echo. Cast iron applications require 1 - 5MHz frequencies, and cast aluminum requires a 7 - 10MHz frequency depending on the thickness. - Page 16 Dakota Ultrasonics Noisy Material Materials such as titanium, stainless steel, and aluminum may have inherent surface noise issues or mirroring effect. Higher frequency transducers 7 – 10MHz offer improved resolution to avoid erroneous measurements. Restricted access Measuring materials with extreme curvatures or restricted access are best suited for...
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Page 17: Chapter Five Making Measurements
In this case the reference disk mounted to the PR-9 is not used. This is called two- point calibration and is described on page 17. -
Page 18: Material Calibration
5.2 Material Calibration In order for the PR-9 to make accurate measurements, it must be set to the correct sound velocity of the material being measured. Different types of materials have different inherent sound velocities. For example, the velocity of sound through steel is about 0.233 inches per microsecond, versus that of aluminum, which is about... - Page 19 .100” (2.54mm) to 1.0” (25.4mm), the user should calibrate on a known thickness sample close to 1.0” (25.4mm). Note: It’s always handy to carry a set of mechanical calipers to use in conjunction with the PR-9 for calibration of various materials in the field:...
- Page 20 Dakota Ultrasonics 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 micrometer. Note: A sample or location on the test piece should be used as close to the maximum thickness of the test range to minimize error.
- Page 21 .250” (6.35mm) and a two point calibration at .080” (2.03mm), or something close to the min/max values of the measurement range. Note: The PR-9 also offers the capability of setting the ‘probe zero’ to use any reference standard as the ‘probe zero’ standard. For clarification, if it’s desired to use a one inch reference of a specific material type as the ‘zero’...
- Page 22 “1 of 2”, which sets the zero value and returns to the measurement screen. Note: The internal zero of the PR-9 is now set. The procedure above can be used to set the internal zero of the PR-9 to use any reference standard as the ‘probe zero’...
- Page 23 PR-9 Sonic thickness tester Note: CHECK YOUR CALIBRATION! Place the transducer back on the calibration points. The thickness readings should now match the known thickness values with minimal error. If the thicknesses are not correct, repeat the steps above.
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Page 24: Chapter Six Additional Features
ADDITIONAL FEATURES 6.1 High Speed Scan The High Speed Scan feature of the PR-9 increases the overall repetition rate to a maximum of 140Hz with a high speed screen refresh rate of 25 times a second. This allows for making scanned passes over an arbitrary length of the test material, while still maintaining a reasonable representation of thickness over the area or region scanned. -
Page 25: Lock
6.4 Lock The lock feature was built into the PR-9 for the purpose of locking the operators out of editing any of the gauge settings, for purposes of consistency between operators. When the lock feature is enabled, the gauge calibration functionality cannot be... -
Page 26: Factory Defaults
PR-9 on 6.5 Factory Defaults The PR-9 can be reset to factory defaults at any time to restore the original gauge settings. This should only be used if the gauge is not functioning properly, or perhaps multiple features have been enabled and a clean start is needed. - Page 27 PR-9 Sonic thickness tester Note: Once the measurement screen is displayed the can be released. 2) Press the keys to scroll through the factory setting options. 3) Make a note of the “MEDI” & “ZERO” settings prior to performing a reset.
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Page 28: Appendix A - Velocity Table
APPENDIX A - VELOCITY TABLE Material sound velocity sound velocity in/us 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 Glycerine 0.0760 1930 Gold 0.1280 3251 Inconel... - Page 29 PR-9 Sonic thickness tester 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 30 At such elevated temperatures, it is recommended that the user perform calibration on a sample piece of known thickness, which is at or near the temperature of the material to be measured. This will allow the PR-9 to correctly calculate the velocity of sound through the hot material.
- Page 31 PR-9 Sonic thickness tester the probe be left in contact with the surface for as short a time as needed (intermittent contact) to acquire a stable measurement. Measuring laminated materials Laminated materials are unique in that their density (and therefore sound-velocity) may vary considerably from one piece to another.
- Page 32 Additionally, Dakota Ultrasonics warrants transducers and accessories against such defects for a period of 90 days from receipt by the end user. If Dakota Ultrasonics receives notice of such defects during the warranty period, Dakota Ultrasonics will either, at its option, repair or replace products that prove to be defective.
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