

Works well for
COATING THICKNESS CALCULATION

Advanced Ball Cratering Thickness Tester to measure coatings 0.1 to 50 microns








The NANOVEA CR-8R is a ball cratering coating thickness tester, also called a calotester, for coatings from 0.1 to 50 µm thick. A rotating ball with abrasive grinds a spherical crater through the coating into the substrate; measuring the crater's ring and inner diameter under a microscope gives the coating thickness, following ISO 26423.
Shaft speed is set from 50 to 4000 rpm and test time from 1 to 10 800 s on a touch screen, with balls from 10 to 38.1 mm in diameter. At 15 kg and 460 x 355 x 135 mm, it is simple, portable and precise.
| Coating thickness range | 0.1 to 50 µm |
|---|---|
| Shaft speed | 50 to 4000 rpm |
| Time range | 1 to 10 800 s |
| Ball diameter | 10 to 38.1 mm |
| Control | Touch screen |
| Weight | 15 kg |
| Dimensions | 460 x 355 x 135 mm |
| Standards | ISO 26423; EN 1071-2 |
Specifications subject to change. Every NANOVEA instrument is built to order; ask for the configuration that fits your samples.
Coating thickness
Thickness of single coatings from 0.1 to 50 µm from the crater geometry: thickness = (A × B) / 2R, where R is the ball radius.
Film thickness by profilometry
For a non-destructive alternative, step height and transparent film thickness by 3D profilometry.
Coating adhesion
Pair thickness with scratch adhesion critical loads.
NANOVEA instruments appear in 555 published studies on friction and wear, by researchers at universities and industrial laboratories worldwide.
Hossein Yazdani‐Ahmadabadi, Demian F. Felix et al. · ACS Central Science, 2022
Measured with the NANOVEA T50
Yasemin Yıldıran Avcu, Okan Yetik et al. · Materials, 2020
Measured with the NANOVEA T50
Effects of UV Stabilizers on Polypropylene Outdoors
Witold Brostow, Xinyao Lu et al. · Materials, 2020
Cited 37 times
Ganesh Walunj, Anthony Bearden et al. · Materials, 2020
Cited 35 times
Macroscale Superlubricity Accomplished by Sb2O3-MSH/C Under High Temperature
Kai Gao, Bin Wang et al. · Frontiers in Chemistry, 2021
Measured with the NANOVEA T50
Aditi Pandey, Anup Kumar Patel et al. · Nanomaterials, 2018
Cited 34 times
A ball of known radius R rotates against the coated surface with an abrasive and wears a spherical crater through the coating into the substrate. Viewed from above, the crater shows the coating as a ring. With A and B the dimensions measured across the crater, the thickness is (A × B) / 2R.
From 0.1 to 50 µm.
PVD and CVD coatings, paints and lacquers, plasma spray coatings, anodic oxidation layers, and galvanic and chemical deposits.
ISO 26423, the ball crater method for coating thickness.
Yes, it leaves a small crater at the test spot. For non-destructive thickness and step height measurement, NANOVEA's optical profilometers measure steps and transparent films without contact.
