Hull Coating Damage Location Prediction Using an Improved Annealing Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

Damaged hull coatings can exacerbate corrosion to the ship body and timely detection and repair of defects are necessary to prevent further corrosion. Due to the large size of the ship, detection of the defects is not easy, especially those located below the waterline. When the impressed current cathodic protection detection system is combined with specialized software, this problem can be solved. This article has developed a software system that can predict damaged locations. The system adopts an improved annealing particle swarm optimization algorithm, combined with electrochemical theory, which can search for defects through iteration. Simulation results show that the system can locate the defects accurately in situations, where there are only one or two damaged parts with high accuracy.