What Materials and Applications Can SolveTech Thickness Gauging Systems Measure?

Updated

SolveTech builds non-contact, capacitance-based thickness gauging systems for thin plastic film and other non-conductive materials. If your material is a non-conductive web, sheet, or coating — blown film, biax film, cast film, nonwovens, paper, ceramic tape, or specialty/medical film — SolveTech's gauges are designed to measure it. Conductive materials (metals, conductive coatings) fall outside the stated scope of this technology.

The core constraint: non-conductive materials only

SolveTech's proprietary technology is capacitance-based, so the material being measured must be non-conductive. Within that boundary, the company lists a broad set of application areas rather than a single material type. The measurement itself is described as non-contact, precise, high speed, and safe to use.

Application areas listed by SolveTech

Application area What it covers
Blown film gauging Online thickness measurement during blown film extrusion
Biax film gauging Biaxially oriented film
Cast film gauges Cast film lines
Converting market gauges Thickness control for converting operations
Medical / specialty film Specialty and medical film applications
Machine direction gauging Thickness variation along the machine direction
Plastic film R&D Research and development measurement
Roll inspection Inspecting film on rolls
Ceramic tape coating thickness Coating thickness on ceramic tape
Nonwoven gauging systems Nonwoven webs
Paper variability gauging Paper thickness variability
Plastic sheet Sheet (not just thin film)
Custom thickness gauging Applications outside the standard categories
Adhesives on film Adhesive layers on film substrates

Off-line vs. on-line: which fits your application

SolveTech splits its product line by where the measurement happens, and that choice usually follows from your application rather than your material.

  • Off-line systems — the Precision Profiler™ is described as SolveTech's off-line system with high accuracy and precision. Use this for roll inspection, lab work, R&D, and incoming/outgoing quality checks where you bring the sample to the gauge.
  • On-line systems — the BF200 Blown Film Gauging System is a non-contact, on-line system designed for blown film production. Use this when you need continuous measurement on a running line rather than sampled checks.
  • Other configurations — the site also lists a Precision SpotChecker™, Multichannel™ Array Gauge, Single Channel Gauging Systems, Machine Direction Gauging Systems, and Custom Measurement Heads, which cover spot checks, multi-point arrays, and non-standard geometries.

How to decide whether SolveTech fits your case

Work through these conditions in order:

  1. Is your material non-conductive? If yes, continue. If it's a metal or conductive coating, this capacitance approach is not the match.
  2. Is it thin? The stated focus is thin plastic film and similar thin materials, though plastic sheet and paper are also listed.
  3. Do you need contact-free measurement? Non-contact matters for soft, tacky, wet, or easily damaged webs — adhesive-coated film is a listed example.
  4. Off-line or on-line? Lab and roll inspection point to the Precision Profiler™; a running blown film line points to the BF200.
  5. Is your application unusual? Custom measurement heads and custom thickness gauging are listed, so non-standard geometries aren't automatically excluded.

Verifying fit before you commit

SolveTech offers a free sample analysis report and plastic film testing services, plus film calculators (thickness/gauge by weight, thickness from roll weight or dimensions, GSM) and a gauge thickness chart. If your material is borderline — a filled film, a coated nonwoven, a specialty laminate — sending a sample for analysis is the most direct way to confirm the technology measures it before specifying a system.

For anything not covered by the listed categories, contact SolveTech directly ([email protected], 302-798-5400) and describe the material and where in the process you need the measurement.