Modeling Interdependent Network Systems for Identifying Cascade-Safe Operating Margins

Enrico Zio (1) , Giovanni Sansavini (2)

1 SSEC - Chaire Sciences des Systèmes et Défis Energétiques EDF/ECP/Supélec
2 Dipartimento di Energia [Milano]

Infrastructure interdependency stems from the functional and logical relations among individual components in different distributed systems. To characterize the extent to which a contingency affecting an infrastructure is going to weaken, and possibly disrupt, the safe operation of an interconnected system, it is necessary to model the relations established through the connections linking the multiple components of the involved infrastructures. In this work, the modeling of interdependencies among network systems and of their effects on failure propagation is carried out within the simulation framework of a failure cascade process. The sensitivity of the critical loading value (the lower bound of the cascading failure region) and of the average cascade size with respect to the coupling parameters defining the interdependency strength is investigated as a means to arrive at the definition and prescription of cascade-safe operating margins.

Keywords: Complex networks; critical infrastructures; failure cascade; interdependent systems; Joining processes; Load modeling; Loading; Operating systems; Power system faults; Power system protection

Domains: Other

Enrico Zio, Giovanni Sansavini. Modeling Interdependent Network Systems for Identifying Cascade-Safe Operating Margins. IEEE Transactions on Reliability, 2011, 60 (1), pp.94-101. ⟨10.1109/TR.2010.2104211⟩. ⟨hal-00609638⟩