ON BOUNDARY ELEMENTS FOR SIMULATION OF CATHODIC PROTECTION SYSTEMS WITH DYNAMIC POLARIZATION CURVES

The Boundary Element Method (BEM) is applied to predict the evolution of current density and potential distributions with respect to time that appear when cathodic protection systems are employed to prevent corrosion of metallic structures in contact with an electrolyte. This phenomenon is governed by the Laplace or Poisson equation, subjected to non-linear time-varying boundary conditions, described by dynamic polarization curves. Numerical techniques that consider the dependency of these curves upon time and formation potential have been developed based on potentiostatic data obtained from in-situ experiments.