The following is a discussion of the article entitled “On the Mechanism of Cathodic Protection,” by S. C. Dexter, L N. Moettus, and K. E. Lucas, published in Corrosion, Vol. 41, No. 10, p. 598, 1985.
DISCUSSION by D. A. Jones, Dept. of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557.
The authors, Dexter, et al., are to be commended on some interesting work in clarifying a subject that has been largely ignored over the years, yet has considerable and obvious practical importance. The purpose of the present communication is to comment on their results, and those of LaQue,1 in view of current electrode kinetic (mixed potential) theory, as applied to cathodic protection.2-4 Some comments are directed to the criteria for cathodic protection and the meaning of complete cathodic protection. An explanation is proposed for anodic and cathodic areas that develop on steel exposed to seawater.
The principle...
