The growth of nanoporous alumina on concave or convex aluminium Surfaces has been investigated. The number of pores during anodic oxidation increases or decreases almost linearly with the thickness of the oxide which is due to bifurcation or termination of single pores during alumina growth. The anodic oxidation has been constantly conducted in oxalic acid at 40V. Therefore the average interpore distance has not changed during alumina growth. In earlier papers it has been shown that a bifurcation of pores is the result of the change of voltage and the electrolyte. In this work we have demonstrated that a termination or a bifurcation of pores is also possible by structuring the aluminium to a curved surface with concave or convex properties before oxidation. Those results do not depend on the substrate characteristics or on the alumina preparation techniques. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.