Numerical modeling of current distributions in corrosion cells has recently received considerable attention for its potential applications in predicting galvanic corrosion rates and in designing cathodic protection systems. Using digital computers, these methods obtained accurate current distributions for geometrically complex corrosion cells that were previously difficult to achieve.
Several methods have been published in the literature.1-8 In these methods, the current distributions (i) were obtained by first solving the Laplace equation with appropriate boundary conditions to produce potential distributions (ϕ). The Laplace equation is derived based on the electroneutrality law and is the governing equation for potential distributions in corrosion cells.
After the potential distribution is obtained, current density at every point in the electrolyte, including the electrolyte/metal interface, can be calculated based on the potential gradient at the point.
where...
