{"id":8051,"date":"2026-04-17T12:37:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ultrasuonindt.it\/echo-echo-and-thrupaint-measuring-thickness-through-paint-and-coatings\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T11:55:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T11:55:43","slug":"echo-echo-and-thrupaint-measuring-thickness-through-paint-and-coatings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ultrasuonindt.it\/en\/echo-echo-and-thrupaint-measuring-thickness-through-paint-and-coatings\/","title":{"rendered":"Echo-Echo and ThruPaint\u2122: measuring thickness through paint and coatings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In industrial maintenance inspections, metal surfaces are almost always covered with paint, epoxy or galvanising<\/strong> that protects them from external corrosion. Removing these coatings to take a thickness reading is expensive and, above all, destroys the protective coating<\/strong>. Echo-Echo<\/strong> mode \u2014 known commercially as ThruPaint\u2122<\/strong> across the Dakota NDT range \u2014 solves the problem by measuring the metal thickness while ignoring the coating. <\/p>\n\n

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The physics behind Echo-Echo<\/h2>\n\n

The standard measurement mode (Pulse-Echo, PE) derives the thickness from the time between the pulse emitted by the probe and the first returning echo. On a coated surface the first echo comes from the top face of the paint, so the reading wrongly includes the thickness of the coating as well. <\/p>\n\n

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Echo-Echo (EE)<\/strong> mode works differently: the instrument measures the time between two consecutive echoes<\/strong> from the back wall of the material. Since both echoes travelled through the same coating in the same way, the coating is mathematically eliminated<\/strong> from the calculation. The result is the bare metal thickness, independent of the surface coating. <\/p>\n\n

The 2 mm coating limit<\/h2>\n\n

According to the official Dakota datasheet, Echo-Echo ThruPaint\u2122<\/strong> mode can ignore coatings up to 2 mm (80 mils)<\/strong>. Beyond that limit the attenuation of the coating becomes too great and the multiple echoes are no longer clean enough for a reliable calculation. Typical coatings compatible with ThruPaint\u2122 mode: <\/p>\n\n