ABSTRACT
Both physical and mathematical modelling can be applied to a Cathodic Protection (CP) design. A physical model, as its name implies, requires the creation of a physical representation of the CP system, whereas the mathematical model involves describing it numerically in a computer programme. In addition to modelling other shipboard components such as torpedo tube internals, British Navy also sought to expand its scale modelling applications into the offshore petroleum sector. The technique was applied to offshore pipelines and an offshore jacket. The objective of computer modelling is to develop a mathematical description of how a CP system performs on a given structure. Compared to the military-funded modelling, in which both the physical size of the model and the solution conductivity are reduced in step, there have been very few examples of modelling involving physical scale representations immersed directly in seawater or the seabed.
