Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519

www.elsevier.com/locate/enganabound

Effective boundary element methods in corrosion analysis

K. Amayaa,*, S. Aokib
a
Department of Mechanical and Environmental Informatics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ohokayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
b
Department of Computational Science and Engineering, Toyo University, 2100 Kujirai, Kawagoe, Saitama 350-8585, Japan
Received 31 January 2002; revised 8 May 2002; accepted 12 June 2002

Abstract
Effective boundary element methods to analyze corrosion problems for complicated structures were presented. The methods can be
classified into two groups. The first one makes use of the characteristics of the structure to be analyzed, i.e. (1) thousands of same size tubes in
an heat exchanger, for example, are treated by introducing a concept ‘macroscopic polarization curve’, (2) slender parts in a structure such as
an off-shore structure and a bridge girder are analyzed by a kind of ‘zooming method’, (3) a non-axisymmetric potential distribution in an
axisymmetric structure such as a pipeline and a seawater pump affected with outside structures is calculated by ‘Fourier series method’, and
(4) target sub-region to be analyzed in detail, e.g. interior of guide casing of seawater pump, is analyzed by treating accompanying sub-
regions as ‘equivalent boundary conditions’. The second one is an application of the Fast Multipole boundary element method (FMBEM),
and can be used for an arbitrary structure. The method is also useful for optimum design of cathodic protection.
q 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Corrosion analysis; Boundary element method; Use of characteristic obstructure; FMBEM

1. Introduction polarization curve method [7 – 9], (2) zooming method [8],

To protect structures from corrosion is one of the most
important problems in engineering. The cathodic protection
using sacrificial anodes or impressing current from electro-
des is usually applied to many structures. Prediction of
corrosion rate of structures and design of cathodic
protection system have been traditionally based on past
experience with a limited number of empirical formulas.
Recently, application of numerical methods such as
boundary element method to the corrosion problems has
been studied intensively [1 –8], and these methods have
become powerful tools. However, the problems of actual
structures are often too complicated to solve, even if it is
possible in principle. How to overcome this difficulty is now
an important problem in numerical study of corrosion.
In this paper, electrochemical aspects of corrosion are
briefly reviewed and its mathematical model with conven-
tional boundary element formulation is given at first. Then,
two groups of effective boundary element methods are
presented. The first one makes use of the characteristics of
the structure to be analyzed, and includes (1) macroscopic
* Corresponding author.
0955-7997/03/$ - see front matter q 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0955-7997(02)00158-3
(3) Fourier series method [11] and (4) equivalent boundary
condition method [15]. The second one is an application of
the fast multipole boundary element method (FMBEM)[16],
and can be applied to an arbitrary structures. The method is
also useful for optimum design of cathodic protection [17].
2. Electrochemical aspects and mathematical model
We consider a typical metal M in an electrolyte. Both
anodic and cathodic reactions occur simultaneously on the
metal surface according to:
Anodic reaction : M ! Mnþ þ ne2 ð1Þ
1 2 2
Cathodic reaction : 2 O2 þ H2 O þ 2e ! 2OH ð2Þ
Due to the reactions an electric current flow occurs. The
density of the electric current across the metal surface i
versus electrical potential in the electrolyte near the metal
surface to a reference electrode (e.g. saturated calomel
electrode (SCE)) E curve is called a polarization curve
which is schematically shown in Fig. 1. The relationships
between the current density i and the potential E for anodic
and cathodic reactions (solid curves) are not obtained
508 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519
Fig. 1. Schematic view of polarization curve.
individually but only nominal relationship E ¼ f ðiÞ for the
two reactions (dashed curve) is measured.
In the natural state, the reactions become in equilibrium
at point C in Fig. 1, and the current corresponding to CD
flows from the anode to the cathode. Corrosion rate is
proportional to this anodic current density CD. It is possible
to suppress the anodic current density by impressing current
to the metal through electrolyte from external power supply
or by connecting the metal with more base metal, i.e.
sacrificial anode, and reducing the potential of the metal to
the critical value Ep : This method is called cathodic
protection [18].
We assume that the surface of the electrolyte domain V is
surrounded by Gð¼ Gd þ Gn þ Gm Þ as shown in Fig. 2,
where Gm is the metal surface, and the potential and current
densities are prescribed and Gd and Gn are the surfaces on
which respectively. The potential field in the homogeneous
electrolyte can be modeled mathematically by the Laplace’s
equation (3) under boundary conditions (4) – (6) [8]
2
7 f¼0
f ¼ f0 on Gd


›f
i¼ ;k ¼ i0 on Gn
›n
2f ¼ f ðiÞ on Gm
where k denotes the conductivity of the electrolyte and ›/›n
is the outward normal derivative.
Fig. 2. Governing equation and boundary conditions.
It is noted that the potential f is defined with referring to
the metal and has the inverse sign of that employed usually
in the corrosion science in which the potential is defined to a
reference electrode such as SCE. f0 and i0 are the
prescribed values of the potential and the current density,
respectively. The function f ðiÞ is the experimentally
determined polarization curve as stated above. In the case
that the structure consists of multiple materials, the number
of polarization curves is the same as that of the material
types.
By solving Eq. (3) under the boundary conditions (4) –
(6), the potential near the metal surface and the current
density which is proportional to the corrosion rate can be
determined. Since the knowledge of physical quantities on
the metal surfaces is important, boundary element method in
which only the surface of analytical domain has to be
discretized with elements is employed here. The standard
boundary element procedures [19,20] lead to
8 9 8 9
>
> f0 > > >
> id >
< = < > =
k½H fn 2 ½G i0 ¼ 0 ð7Þ
>
> >
> >
> >
: ; : > ;
2f ðim Þ im
where the detailed expressions of matrices, [H ] and [G ], are
given in Refs. [19,20], and the subscripts d, n and m
represent the quantities on Gd ; Gn and Gm ; respectively. The
system of non-linear algebraic equations (Eq. (5)) is solved
by the iterative procedure, e.g. the Newton – Raphson
method [21]. An experimental verification of the boundary
element solution is shown in Ref. [8,22].
3. Macroscopic polarization curve method
3.1. Macroscopic polarization curve
ð3Þ
Direct application of the above-mentioned numerical
ð4Þ
procedure to an actual heat exchanger, for example, needs too
many elements to calculate in a reasonable CPU time,
ð5Þ
because it has thousands of tubes. In order to overcome this
ð6Þ difficulty, an approximate but effective method based on a
concept ‘macroscopic polarization curve’ is introduced [7,8].
Fig. 3 shows a heat exchanger which is used in many
plants such as a power generator and steel making plants. It
Fig. 3. Schematic view of heat exchanger.
 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519
Fig. 4. Tubes, tube-holder plate and zinc anodes.
consists of a great number of stainless steel tubes and two
naval brass tube-holder plates. Sacrificial anodes, e.g. zinc
plates, are usually placed in the water box to protect the
tube-holder plates from galvanic corrosion.
We assume that the surface of the tube-holder plate
(area A in Fig. 4) which holds thousands of tubes were
made of a homogeneous virtual material having an
equivalent macroscopic polarization curves. To determine
the equivalent macroscopic polarization curves, a tube
unit, which consists of a stainless steel tube and a part of
naval brass tube-holder plate (as shown in Fig. 5) is
analyzed.
The boundary conditions of the tube unit are shown in
Fig. 6, where Ga and Gb are virtual boundaries. It is
assumed that i ¼ 0 on Gb and i ¼ ia on Ga : The
polarization curves of naval brass and stainless steel
are assumed to be given, and hence fa (the potential on
Ga ) for ia (the prescribed value of current density on Ga )
can be determined by conventional boundary element
method described in the preceding chapter. The fa
Fig. 5. Tube unit.
509
versus ia curve thus obtained is the macroscopic
polarization curve.
Once the macroscopic polarization curve is obtained, the
water box can be analyzed by using it with boundary
element method. After obtaining the potential near the tube-
holder plate by this method, the detailed distribution of
potential or current density on the tube unit is determined by
using the results of the analysis which was performed to
determine the macroscopic polarization curve. This effec-
tive boundary element method based on the macroscopic
polarization curve can be applied to not only a heat
exchanger but also other similar complicated structures.
3.2. Example
As an example problem, let us analyze the effect of zinc
anodes on a real heat exchanger, where the inner wall of the
water box is coated with rubber sheets, and the naval brass
tube plate holds 4600 stainless steel tubes [7,8]. Eight zinc
sacrificial anodes, which are shown as solid rectangles in
Fig. 4, are placed on the inner wall.
The conductivity of seawater, k, is 5.0 V21 m21 and the
polarization curves of the naval brass, stainless steel and
Fig. 6. Boundary condition of tube unit.
510 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519

Fig. 7. Individual and macroscopic polarization curves.

Fig. 9. Boundary elements of water box.
zinc are given in Fig. 7. These electrochemical character-
istics were obtained in the air-saturated seawater at 30 8C 4. Zooming method
and the SCE was used as a reference electrode.
The ia ; the prescribed values of i on Ga ; are chosen in the 4.1. Approximation using line-shape elements
range from 2 0.5 to 2 10 A/m2. The ib ; the value of i on Gb ;
is assumed to be zero. The calculated distribution of the We also encounter difficulty in performing a detailed
electric potential and current density along a tube unit are analysis of an off-shore structure or a bridge girder which
shown in Fig. 8. has a number of slender parts, because it needs
The macroscopic polarization curve, i.e. the relationship a tremendously great number of elements. To cope
between fa and ia ; is obtained from the results shown in with the difficulty, a kind of zooming method is
Fig. 8, and is shown together with the polarization curves of introduced [8,10].
the individual metals in Fig. 7. The distance, d, in Fig. 6 was At first, we consider an approximate method using line-
assumed to be 2 cm and its effect may be small because it is shape elements [12,13]. The potential at an arbitrary point i
much shorter than the height of the water box, 70 cm. It is in an infinite field is obtained from Eq. (3) as
found from the macroscopic polarization curve that much ð
kfi ¼ ðfp i 2 ip fÞdG þ kf1 ð8Þ
current has to be supplied to reduce the electric potential of G
the virtual homogeneous metal (which actually consists of a
tube-holder plate and many tubes). where G ¼ Gd þ Gn þ Gm and f1 is the potential at infinite
The electric field in the water box is analyzed by boundary. The subscript i denotes the quantity at an
arbitrary point i in V. The f p and i p are the fundamental
employing the macroscopic polarization curve shown in
solutions of Laplace’s equation
Fig. 7 as a boundary condition. The boundary element mesh
used for this analysis is shown in Fig. 9, where 972 1
fp ¼ ð9Þ
triangular elements are employed. The result is shown in 4pr
Fig. 10, where the effect of the sacrificial anodes is clearly
›fp
recognized. ip ¼ k ¼ Oðr 22 Þ ð10Þ
›n
where r is the distance between the point i and a point on G.

Fig. 8. Calculated potential on tube unit. Fig. 10. Potential distribution on tube-holder plate.
 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519 511

Fig. 12. Sub-region G0 to be analyzed in detail.

Fig. 11. Cylindrical coordinate. Then, Eq. (11) is rewritten in the following form:
ðð ðð
We consider a slender cylindrical part with radius a, for kci fi ¼ fp ia dudl 2 ip fa dudl þ kf1
G1 G1
simplicity. Eq. (5) is rewritten with the cylindrical ðð
coordinate O – r; u; l (Fig. 11) as þ ðfp i 2 ip fÞdG ð17Þ
G0
ðð ðð
kfi ¼ fp ia dudl 2 ip fa dudl þ kf1 ð11Þ Because a p r for G1, Eq. (17) leads to
G G ð ðð
kci fi ¼ 2paqfp dl þ kf1 þ ðfp i 2 ip fÞdG ð18Þ
By assuming a p r and G to be a line, Eq. (11) leads to l1 G0

ð Discretizing Eq. (18) with n1 constant line-shape elements

kfi ¼ ð2paıfp Þdl þ kf1 ð12Þ for Gl and n0 constant elements for G0 as shown in Fig. 13
l
yields
where n0 ð
! n0 ð
!
X p
X p
kci fi þ i dG fj 2 f dG i j
ð2p j¼1 G0j j¼1 G0j
2paı ¼ ia du ð13Þ

0 Xn1 ð
p
¼ 2pa ıj f dl þ kf1 ð19Þ
l
Discretizing Eq. (12) with n constant line-shape elements j¼1
yields
Putting the points i (from 1 to n0) on G0 leads to
 ı} ¼ k{f1 }
k{f} 2 ½G{ ð14Þ  ı} þ k{f1 }
k½H{f} 2 ½G{i} ¼ ½G{ ð20Þ

where {f1} is a n-dimensional vector, the components of where {f}; and {f1 } are n0-dimensional vectors, and the
 g ij is given
which are f1’s. The component of matrix ½G; components of matrices [H ] and [G ], hij and gij ; are given
by by
ð
ð hij ¼ ip dG ð21Þ
g ij ¼ 2pa=ð4prÞdl for i – j ð15Þ Gj
lj
ð
ð gij ¼ fp dG ð22Þ
0 Gj
g ii ¼ 2pa=ð4prÞdG ðCauchy s principal valueÞ ð16Þ
Gi
Since the {ı} is obtained by the above-mentioned approxi-
where the subscript j represents the quantity related to the mate method, Eq. (20) can be solved and the circumferential
jth element. distributions of f and i on the target boundary can be
The method is applicable to the case of non-circular obtained in a short CPU time. In case where there are other
cross-section by replacing a du with dS (S: circumferential plural target boundaries, the method can be efficiently used
by changing only ½G  in Eq. (20). It is of course possible to
length) in Eqs. (11) and (13), and also replacing 2pa with S
in Eqs. (12), (13), (15) and (16). The circumferentially
averaged value of f and i can be obtained with short CPU
time by solving Eq. (14).

4.2. Circumferential distributions of f and i

We consider to calculate circumferential distributions

of f and i efficiently. Let G0 and Gl be the target boundary
to be analyzed in detail and the other boundary, respect-
ively, and put the source point i on G0, as shown in Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Discretization.
512 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519

Fig. 14. C-shaped beam.

use higher order elements instead of the constant elements

explained above.
Fig. 16. Current distribution on C-shape beam.
4.3. Example
not in the context of corrosion, the modeling of axisymmetric
problems with non-axisymmetric boundary conditions using
We consider a C-shaped part in an infinite region as Fourier series has been done [14].
shown in Fig. 14, where f1 ¼ 0:0 V; k ¼ 1:0 V21 m21 ; The boundary integral equation for the present corrosion
and the polarization curve is represented as f ¼ 20:1i þ 1 problem is derived from Eq. (3) as
[8,10].
ð ð
At first, the circumferencially averaged current density, ı
kcfðyÞ ¼ fp ðx; yÞiðxÞdGðxÞ 2 ip ðx; yÞfðxÞdGðxÞ þ kf1
is obtained by the approximate method with 10 line-shaped G G
elements. Then, by substituting thus obtained ı into Eq. (20) ð23Þ
and choosing G0 and Gl as shown in Fig. 15, the
circumferencial distribution of i at l ¼ 2:5 m is calculated. where x and y are the locations of the observation and
The calculated result is compared with that by a detailed source points, respectively, and f p and i p are the
analysis in Fig. 16. Good agreement is recognized between fundamental solutions given by Eqs. (9) and (10),
the two results. Seven hundred and sixty-dimensional respectively.
equation system needs to be solved in the detailed analysis, Let Gp denote the axisymmetric part of structure and Go
while only 48-dimensional equation system is solved in the the other part. We represent f and i on Gp with complex
proposed zooming method. Fourier expansion series as
XN
fðu; lÞ ¼ Fn ðlÞejnu ð24Þ
n¼2N
5. Fourier series method
X
N
iðu; lÞ ¼ In ðlÞejnu ð25Þ
5.1. Non-axisymmetric corrosion field n¼2N

where the cylindrical coordinate O – r; u; l is employed.

There are many cases where the corrosion field is
Substitution of Eqs. (24) and (25) into Eq. (23) leads to
non-axisymmetric, even if the geometry of main part of
structure is axisymmetric, e.g. a seawater pump with several X
N ð ð
prismatic sacrificial anodes and a pipeline affected with kc Fm ejma ¼ fp i dG 2 ip f dG
m¼2N Go Go
electrodes of cathodic protection. A great number of
elements are necessary in the conventional boundary element ð X
N
þ fp In ejnu dG
method for these cases. To reduce the number of elements, a Gp n¼2N
new method using Fourier series is proposed [11]. Although ð X
N
2 ip Fn ejnu dG þ kf1 ð26Þ
Gp n¼2N

for the case where the source point is on Gp ; and

ð ð ð X
N
k cf ¼ fp i dG 2 ip f dG þ fp In ejnu dG
Go Go Gp n¼2N
ð X
N
2 ip Fn ejnu dG þ kf1 ð27Þ
Gp n¼2N
Fig. 15. Discretization of C-shape beam.
 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519 513

for the case where the source point is on Go : Here, it is noted Eqs. (27), (29) and (34) are, respectively, discretized as [11]
that a is used for source points instead of u. ð ð
X
no X
no
By applying the following transformation to Eq. (26) kci fi ¼ ij j fp dG 2 fj j ip dG
j¼1 Go j¼1 Go
1 ðp X
np X
nk ð
Ft ½gðaÞ ; gðaÞe2jta da ð28Þ
2p 2p þ Ink fp ejnu dG
k¼1 n¼2Nk Gkp

We obtain X
np
X
Nk ð
2 Fkn ip ejnu dG þ kf1 ð35Þ
Gkp
ð ð ð X
N k¼1 n¼2Nk
kcFt ¼ Fpt i dG 2 Itp f dG þ Fpt In ejnu dG ð ð
Go Go Gp X
no X
no
8
n¼2N
kci Fit ¼ ij j Fpt dG 2 fj j Itp dG
ð X
N < kf1 t¼0 j¼1 Go j¼1 Go
2 Itp Fn ejnu dG þ ð
Gp :0 X
np
X
Nk
n¼2N t–0 þ Ink Fpt ejnu dG
ð29Þ k¼1 n¼2Nk Gkp
8
X
np X
Nk ð < kf1 t¼0
where Fpt and Itp represent Ft ½fp  and Ft ½I p ; respectively. 2 Fkn Itp ejnu dG þ
Gp k :0 t–0
Applying the transformation also to the boundary k¼1 n¼2Nk
conditions (4) and (5) yields ð36Þ
( X
no ð X
np ð X
no X
np
f0 t¼0
F0 ¼ on Gd ð30Þ ij j dG þ 2p I0k r ds ¼ i j Sj þ I0k Sk ¼ 0
Go skp
0 t–0 j¼1 k¼1 j¼1 k¼1
ð37Þ
(
l0 t¼0 The following algebraic equation system is derived from
I0 ¼ on Gn ð31Þ these equations.
0 t–0
8 9 8 9
>
> Fn >
> >
> In >
Here, we assume that the polarization curve is approximated < = < > =
k½H f ¼ ½G i ð38Þ
to be linear: >
> >
> >
> >
: ; : > ;
f1 i1
f ðiÞ ¼ ai þ b ð32Þ
The equation system is solved after boundary conditions are
Then, the boundary condition (6) is rewritten as substituted.

( 5.3. Example
2aIt 2 b t¼0
Ft ¼ on Gm ð33Þ
2aIt t–0 We consider a seawater pump protected with four
sacrificial anodes as shown in Fig. 17 [11]. Before solving
The conservation law of charge is written as this example problem, the accuracy of the proposed method
was confirmed with simpler examples [11]. The seawater
ð ð
i dG þ 2p rI0 ds ¼ 0 ð34Þ pump and sacrificial anodes are made of cast iron and zinc,
Go sp and their polarization curves are represented as f1 ðiÞ ¼
5:0i 2 0:5 V and f2 ðiÞ ¼ 0:05i 2 1:1 V; respectively. The
where sp is the curve representing the axial shape of the bottom of the pump is assumed to be electrically isolated,
axisymmetric part. Eqs. (27), (29) and (34) are the basic i ¼ 0:0½A=m2 ; i.e. only exterior of the pump is analyzed
equations for the present problem. (see the next chapter for analysis including both interior and
exterior).
5.2. Boundary element discretization The boundary element mesh is shown in Fig. 18, where
88 Fourier elements for the pump and 288 constant elements
To discretize the basic equations, we employ no constant for sacrificial anodes are used, and the right figure is the
boundary elements for Go ; and np truncated cone shape view form the center point ’A’. We assume N ¼ 10 in
boundary elements, in which Fn and In ð2N # n # NÞ are Fourier element, so that the total degree of freedom is 2137.
constant (N can depend on each element) and f and i are Because the current is isolated on the surface of the
constant in axial direction, for Gp : The truncated cone shape seawater, mirror-point technique [23] is employed and
boundary element will be referred to as Fourier element. hence no element is used here. The calculated potential
514 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519
Fig. 17. Seawater pump.
distribution is shown in Fig. 19. It is observed that the
distribution is non-axisymmetric near the sacrificial anodes,
while that far from the sacrificial anodes is axisymmetric as
expected. This suggests that N can be reduced for the
regions far from the sacrificial anodes.
Fig. 18. BE mesh for pump and anode.
Fig. 19. Potential distribution on the pump.
6. Equivalent boundary condition method
6.1. Equivalent boundary condition
We often encounter following difficulties in the analysis
of an actual structure, e.g. analysis of a seawater pump with
both its interior and exterior taken into account: (1) it is too
complicated to analyze in one time, (2) a large calculation
must be repeated every time when design of a small part
changes, and (3) it is difficult to perform analysis using
different types of elements together.
To overcome these difficulties, we divide the region V to be
analyzed into a target sub-region V1 and an accompanying
sub-region V2 as shown in Fig. 20, where the boundaries G1, G2
and GI are defined [12]. The discretized boundary integral
equation for the accompanying sub-region V2 is written as
k½HG2 þ GI {f} ¼ ½GG2 þGI {i} ð39Þ
where the subscripts H and G represent the boundaries to be
discretized.
The unknown (f or i) at the nodal point j on G2 is referred
to as xj : The potential and current density on the dividing
boundary GI are denoted with fI and iI ; respectively. Then,
Fig. 20. Division into target and accompanying sub-regions.
 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519 515

Eq. (39) is rewritten as

8 9 8 9
>
> x > > >
> i0 >
>
>
> >
> >
> >
>
>
< f0 = > >
<x> =
k½HG2 þGI  2 ½GG2 þGI  ¼ {0} ð40Þ
>
> 2f m ðxÞ >
> >
> x> >
>
> >
> >
> >
>
>
: >
; >
: > ;
fI iI
where x corresponds to xj at each nodal point.
Linearizing Eq. (40) around x0, which is the solution of
Eq. (40) for an appropriate value of fI ð¼ fI0 Þ yields
k½HGI {fI } 2 ½GGI {iI } þ ½A{x} þ {b} ¼ {0} ð41Þ
where ½HGI ; ½GGI  and [A ] are non-square matrices, and
given by
Fig. 22. Polarization curves for various flow rates-2.
½A ¼ k½HG2 ½F 2 ½GG2  ð42Þ
{b} ¼ {f m ðx0 Þ} 2 ½F{x0 } ð43Þ of the pump is 6400 mm. Before considering this actual
pump, the accuracy of the proposed method was verified
The components of [F ], Fij are given by with a simpler example [12]. In this actual pump, sacrificial

›fm ðxi Þ  zinc anodes are located circumferentially at three locations
Fij ¼  ð44Þ of the column pipe inner surface, and four zinc prisms are
›xj x¼x 0 attached to the outer surface of the column pipe.
Multiplying Eq. (41) with ½I 2 ½Að½AT ½AÞ21 ½AT leads to Polarization curves used in the analysis are shown in
Figs. 21 and 22. Because the polarization curve depends on
{fI } ¼ ½A0GI {iI } þ {b0 } ð45Þ flow rate of seawater, the inner surface of the pump is
This is the relationship between fI and iI which represents treated as if it were made of different several metals
the effect of the accompanying sub-region V2, and can be depending on the flow rate. The zinc anodes are also treated
used as an equivalent boundary condition for the target sub- in a similar way. The conductivity is assumed as k ¼ 4:6
region V1. The above-mentioned three difficulties can be V21 m21 :
overcome by solving the target sub-region V1 using this The region to be analyzed is divided into three sub-regions
equivalent boundary condition. Although one accompany- as shown in Fig. 23; the exterior of the pump, the interior of
ing sub-region was assumed in the above explanation for the guide casing and the interior of the upper part of the
simplicity, plural accompanying sub-regions can be simi- column pipe. The interior of the guide casing is assigned for
larly treated. the target sub-region. The interfaces, Ga and Gb ; play an role
of GI in Fig. 20. The boundary element meshes are shown in
6.2. Example Figs. 24 and 25. The interior of the guide casing consists of
seven independent flow channels, and the surfaces of the
We consider an actual seawater pump made of cast iron blades and screw are assumed to be electrically isolated by
(FC-200) [12]. The pump is the same as that shown in Fig. painting.
17 except that the distance from the sea level to the bottom

Fig. 21. Polarization curves for various flow rates-1. Fig. 23. Division of domain into three sub-regions.
516 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519
Fig. 24. Boundary element mesh of accompanying sub-regions.
The calculated potential distribution on the inner surface
of the guide casing is shown in Fig. 26. It is noted that the
distribution includes the effects of both the exterior of the
pump and the interior of the upper part of the column pipe.
Combined use of this method and the Fourier series method
stated in the previous section would be more efficient,
although it is difficult for the Fourier series method to treat
the non-linear polarization curve without approximation.
7. Application of fast multipole boundary element
method [16]
Application of the fast multipole boundary element
method (FMBEM) to corrosion problems is expressed in
this section. It is found that FMBEM can be successfully
applied to corrosion analysis by employing the previous
research results on the potential problems together with the
following procedures: (1) use of M00 of the root cell (which
is obtained in the process of multipole expansion) for
Fig. 25. Boundary element mesh of target sub-regions.
Fig. 26. Calculated potential distribution.
the infinite region problems, and (2) modification of the
residual calculation formula in the Bi-CGSTAB iterative
method to cope with the non-linearity caused by polariz-
ation curves. An example is shown to demonstrate the
applicability of the FMBEM to corrosion problems.
7.1. FMBEM formulation and algorithm [24 –25]
The following boundary integral equation will be solved
by following standard boundary element method
ð
0 ¼ cfðxÞ þ Kðx; yÞf dy ð46Þ
S
where c is constant coefficient, the kernel Kðx; yÞ is known
function. Assume K can be expanded into a series
X
Kðx; yÞ ¼ fi ðxÞci ðyÞ ð47Þ
i
by appropriate functions fi ðxÞ and ci ðyÞ ði ¼ 1; 2; …Þ:
We now compute the integral on the right-hand side of
Eq. (46) over a subset of S denoted by S0.
X ð
fi ðxÞMi ; Mi ¼ ci ðyÞfðyÞ dS ð48Þ
i S0
where Mi is the multipole moments. We have assumed that x
is far enough from S0 in this formula. It is efficient to employ
Eq. (48) for evaluating the integral on the right-hand side of
Eq. (46), for many different x, because the multipole
moments Mi is independent of x. The algorithm using
octtree structure for fast evaluation of Mi is introduced.
Determination of octtree structure starts with considering a
cube which circumscribes S and subdividing it into eight
equal sub-cubes hierarchically.
In the evaluation of the integral on the right-hand side of
Eq. (46), one can use not only the multipole moments but
also the coefficients of local expansion around x0.
The algorithm of the standard FMBEM is described as
follows: (1) discretisation, (2) determination of octtree
structure, (3) computation of the multipole moments, (4)
evaluation of the integral. The solution f can be obtained
following the iterative solution strategy such as Bi-CGSTAB.
 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519
Fig. 27. Tank filled with electrolyte.
Since dealing with the non-linearity caused by polariz-
ation curves, it is necessary to modify the residual
calculation formula in the Bi-CGSTAB iterative method
as the following
rq ¼ bq 2 ½Aðzq Þðzq Þ
where z is the unknown vector; b, the unknown vector; r,
the residual vector; [A ], the non-linear coefficient matrix; q
is the number of iteration. It is noted that the standard Bi-
CGSTAB method requires twice of FM calculation for
linear problem and above modification requires three times
of calculation for solving non-linear problem.
The memory requirement of standard BEM is O(N 2),
where N is the number of unknowns. When one attempts to
solve matrix equations with direct methods such as Crout’s
method, Gaussian elimination, etc. the required compu-
tational cost increases to O(N 3). FMBEM reduces the
computational cost to O(N(log N)) and the memory
requirements to O(N), FMBEM make it possible to analyze
practical large scale problems.
7.2. Numerical example
We consider a cubic tank filled with electric solution as
shown in Fig. 27. The potential on two of surfaces of the
tank are set to be 2 680 and 2 620 mV, respectively, and
four other walls are made of iron, and their polarization
curves are represented in Fig. 28. The conductivity is
assumed as k ¼ 0:3 V21 m21 :
Fig. 28. Polarization curve.
517
ð49Þ Fig. 29. Potential along center line of a wall.
The calculated potential distribution on center line of
side wall is shown in Fig. 29. The calculated result is
compared with that by ordinary BEM. Good agreement is
recognized between the two results. About 400 iterations
were required even for this non-linear problem.
8. Effective optimization of cathodic protection design
by FMBEM
An effective optimization technique for cathodic protec-
tion design is developed [17]. To cope with the large amount
of memory and calculation, the FMBEM is applied. An
example problem is solved to demonstrate the effectiveness
and usefulness of the present method.
8.1. Optimization problem of cathodic protection
To satisfy the protective condition on the metal surface
Gm ; it is necessary that the difference between the potential
near the metal surface, f(x), and the potential in the metal,
fm0 ðxÞ; is less than the protective potential Ep ðxÞ: Thus, the
constraint condition is described as:
2{fðxÞ 2 fm0 ðxÞ} # Ep ðxÞ ð50Þ
Optimal locations of electrodes and impressed current to
each electrode are determined in such a way that the sum of
the necessary power to achieve the complete protection and
the cost to lay electrodes underground is minimized. The
following objective function is defined
N ð
X
PðIe ; xe Þ ¼ {fei þ fei ðiei Þ}iei dG ð51Þ
i¼1 Gei
where Ie and xe are the vectors, the components of which are
Iei ; and xei ; respectively. The Gei is the boundary which is
radius of 1 distant from electrode ei (1 is very small
compared with the size of G), fei ; iei and fei(iei) are
518 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519

the potential, the current density and the polarization curve

of electrode, ei, respectively.
Considering that Eq. (50) is the constraint condition for
minimizing Eq. (51), we modify the cost function by adding
a penalty function as:
X
n
Pp ðIe ; xe Þ ¼ PðIe ; xe Þ þ kp bsj ðIe ; xe Þ ð52Þ
j¼1

Here, kp is the penalty coefficient (large positive number)

and the function bj is defined on Gm as
bj ¼ {ðfj 2 fm0j Þ þ Ep }u{ 2 ðfj 2 fm0j Þ 2 Ep }
where u( ) is the unit step function. If the protective
condition (Eq. (50)) is not satisfied, Pp ðIe ; xe Þ takes a large
value. The Simplex method is employed to minimize the
objective function of Eq. (52). The algorithm of the
minimization is as follows:
(1) Assume Iei and xei ði ¼ 1; 2; …; NÞ:
(2) Solve boundary value problem by FMBEM.
(3) Calculate Eq. (52).
(4) Modify Iei and xei ði ¼ 1; 2; …; NÞ according to the
minimization method, i.e. Simplex method, and return
to (2).
8.2. Effective optimization algorithm
To cope with the large amount of memory and
calculation, the FMBEM is applied. To achieve an
effective optimization, the initial values of the design
variables, i.e. the location and current of each electrode,
are determined by solving an inverse problem. In the
inverse problem both of the potential and the current
density on the metal surfaces to be protected are given as
the ideal values, i.e. the protection potential and its
corresponding current density. The inverse problem is
solved effectively by using the FMBEM. These design
variables Ie and xe are obtained by matching to multipolar
coefficients. Therefore, the initial values can be obtained
by solving the following least square problem:
 
 X  using FMBEM.
 
lM0mn ðIe ; xe Þl2 ;  Ejmn 2 Ie Yn2m ðue ; we ÞRne 2 ! min ð54Þ
j?leaf 0 
ð53Þ
Fig. 31. Potential along with x.
where M0 is multipole coefficients of root cell, Ejmn is
multipole coefficients of structure surface, Yn2m ð·Þ spherical
harmonic functions, ue, we and Re are spherical coordinates
of electrode location. Using this obtained initial values, the
optimization problem is solved by the simplex method.
8.3. Numerical example
The example is shown in Fig. 30 in which a cube tank is
cathodically protected with one electrode. The protective
potentials is assumed as Ep ¼ 2 1, the penalty coefficient is
chosen as kp ¼ 1.0 £ 105. The optimized potential result of
the model discretizing with 10 800 elements is shown in
Fig. 31 The optimized location and impressed current of
electrode was xe ¼ ð0:66; 0:50; 0:50Þ ½m and Ie ¼ 8.62 A,
respectively. Employing fast multipole method, the large
scale (in numbers of elements) problem which could not
have been solved with standard BEM can be solved. Fig. 32
shows the total CPU time (sec) required by the standard
optimization method (SO) with standard BEM, SO with
standard FMBEM and effective optimization method with
FMBEM for different number of unknowns. These results
show that the FMBEM method is efficient over around 4000
unknowns. Applying the present optimization method, the
calculation time is reduced to half of ordinary optimization

Fig. 30. Analysis model. Fig. 32. Time of calculation for element number.
 K. Amaya, S. Aoki / Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements 27 (2003) 507–519
9. Conclusion
Six types of effective boundary element (BE) methods to
analyze corrosion problems for complicated structures were
presented. Electrochemical aspects of corrosion are briefly
reviewed and its mathematical model with conventional
boundary element formulation is given at first. The
following effective boundary element methods are pre-
sented:
1. Macroscopic polarization curve method;
2. Zooming method;
3. Fourier series method;
4. Equivalent boundary condition method;
5. Fast multipole boundary element method for corrosion
problem;
6. Design of cathodic protection by effective optimization
with FMBEM.
The above method of each was demonstrated with
numerical examples.
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