Monitoring of corrosion induced loss of material by means of a plurality of electrical resistance measurements (field signature method, electrical resistance tomography)

摘要

A method of monitoring or predicting corrosion using a field signature method is provided which is intended to be applicable to non-linear locations, such as bends, junctions and the like. The method includes obtaining information on a relationship which links voltage measurements, obtained for a location, between two or more electrical contacts in contact with the location at a first time and one or more other times when a current is passed through the location, to the loss of material from the location. The information on the relationship is used in a modelling process which includes the generation of a model of the location, two or more points on that location and modelling the values generated for the voltages which will be measured between the two or more points with a current applied to the location at a first and at least at a second time.