Although stable, the titanium sub-oxide ceramic is known to slowly polarise when subjected to extreme cathodic current densities so it was important to determine their longevity under such strong polarising conditions. A long term programme was, therefore, initiated in 1994 with the objective of monitoring the performance of anodes embedded in steel reinforced concrete blocks over a period of between 7 and 12 years under a range of polarising levels. The work was supplemented by subjecting tubular anodes to the NACE Standard Test Method (NACE Standard TM0294-2001)
at normal and four times normal current densities by surface area of the anode at equivalent charge levels of up to 100 years at 110mA/m2 and 900mA/m2. Electrochemical results indicated a very good performance of the anodes over the test period and showed clearly that any polarisation of the anodes was acceptably low.