Method for electrically connecting non corrodible anodes to the corrodible core of a power supply cable, power supply cable and tubular anode connected to said cable

摘要

The invention relates to an improved method to connect one or more non corrodible, valve metal anodes whose surface has been activated by a deposit of non passivatable material, to a power supply cable, insulated by a sheath of rubber or other elastomeric material, to make flexible anode assemblies to be used for the cathodic protection of metallic structures, either in water or soil environments. Each anode is provided with a valve metal sleeve, which may be inserted along the cable and then swaged first directly onto the cable's conducting core, previously stripped of its insulating sheath, in correspondence of the central portion of the sleeve, and subsequently swaged at the two ends directly onto the insulating sheath of the cable. Bushes of a ductile metal or alloy, preferably anodically dissoluble, are disposed onto the valve metal sleeve before swaging, in order to take up the wrinkling and allow a more uniform circumferential reduction of the valve metal sleeve over the cable.