Corrosion Monitoring of Sacrificial Anodes Based on Contour Plot Analysis of Electro-Mechanical Impedance Spectra
Published in IEEE International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (Transducers), 2021
This paper adapts a frequency-domain contour-plot (graphical) inverse technique to estimate the thicknesses of the uncorroded zinc and corroded zinc-oxide layers on PZT-instrumented sacrificial anode discs. By deriving analytical expressions for radial and transverse resonance modes and plotting zero-level contours in the (h₁, h₂) plane, the intersection yields the layer thicknesses directly — no iterative optimization or calibration required. The method is validated with extensive finite-element simulations and impressed-current accelerated-corrosion experiments; results show strong agreement despite realistic non-uniform corrosion and delamination dynamics. The Transducers paper is the conference version of this contour-plot approach.
Key Findings
- A contour-plot analysis of EMI spectra estimates zinc and zinc-oxide layer thicknesses directly.
- The method is calibration-free and does not require iterative computation.
- Finite element simulations and impressed-current experiments validate the approach.
- Enables real-time, in-situ monitoring of sacrificial anode corrosion in cathodic protection systems.
Recommended citation: Thalapil J., Tamhane D., Banerjee S., Tallur S. Corrosion Monitoring of Sacrificial Anodes Based on Contour Plot Analysis of Electro-Mechanical Impedance Spectra. Proc. Transducers 2021.
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