skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Quantifying the Interdependency Strength Across Critical Infrastructure Systems Using A Dynamic Network Flow Redistribution Model.
Critical infrastructure networks are becoming increasingly interdependent which adversely impacts their performance through the cascading effect of initial failures. Failing to account for these complex interactions could lead to an underestimation of the vulnerability of interdependent critical infrastructure (ICI). The goal of this research is to assess how important interdependent links are by evaluating the interdependency strength using a dynamic network flow redistribution model which accounts for the dynamic and uncertain aspects of interdependencies. Specifically, a vulnerability analysis is performed considering two scenarios, one with interdependent links and the other without interdependent links. The initial failure is set to be the same under both scenarios. Cascading failure is modeled through a flow redistribution until the entire system reaches a stable state in which cascading failure no longer occurs. The unmet demand of the networks at the stable state over the initial demand is defined as the vulnerability. The difference between the vulnerability of each network under these two scenarios is used as the metric to quantify interdependency strength. A case study of a real power-water-gas system subject to earthquake risk is conducted to illustrate the proposed method. Uncertainty is incorporated by considering failure probability using Monte Carlo simulation. By varying the location and magnitude of earthquake disruptions, we show that interdependency strength is determined not only by the topology and flow of ICIs but also the characteristics of the disruptions. This compound system-disruption effect on interdependency strength can inform the design, assessment, and restoration of ICIs.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1944559
PAR ID:
10233935
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Editor(s):
Baraldi, P.; null; Zio, E.
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference and 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference.
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. null (Ed.)
    Abstract Modeling the resilience of interdependent critical infrastructure (ICI) requires a careful assessment of interdependencies as these systems are becoming increasingly interconnected. The interdependent connections across ICIs are often subject to uncertainty due to the lack of relevant data. Yet, this uncertainty has not been properly characterized. This paper develops an approach to model the resilience of ICIs founded in probabilistic graphical models. The uncertainty of interdependency links between ICIs is modeled using stochastic block models (SBMs). Specifically, the approach estimates the probability of links between individual systems considered as blocks in the SBM. The proposed model employs several attributes as predictors. Two recovery strategies based on static and dynamic component importance ranking are developed and compared. The proposed approach is illustrated with a case study of the interdependent water and power networks in Shelby County, TN. Results show that the probability of interdependency links varies depending on the predictors considered in the estimation. Accounting for the uncertainty in interdependency links allows for a dynamic recovery process. A recovery strategy based on dynamically updated component importance ranking accelerates recovery, thereby improving the resilience of ICIs. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract This paper proposes a novel simulation‐based hybrid approach coupled with time‐dependent Bayesian network analysis to model multi‐infrastructure vulnerability over time under physical, spatial, and informational uncertainties while considering cascading failures within and across infrastructure networks. Unlike existing studies that unrealistically assume that infrastructure managers have full knowledge of all the infrastructure systems, the proposed approach considers a realistic scenario where complete information about the infrastructure network topology or the supply–demand flow characteristics is not available while estimating multi‐infrastructure vulnerability. A novel heuristic algorithm is proposed to construct a dynamic fault tree to abstract the network topology of any infrastructure. In addition, to account for the unavailability of exact supply–demand flow characteristics, the proposed approach constructs the interdependence links across infrastructure network systems using different simulated parameters considering the physical, logical, and geographical dependencies. Finally, using parameters for geographical proximity, infrastructure managers' risk perception, and the relative importance of one infrastructure on another, the multi‐infrastructure vulnerability over time is estimated. Results from the numerical experiment show that for an opportunistic risk perception, the interdependencies attribute to redundancies, and with an increase in redundancy, the vulnerability decreases. On the other hand, from a conservative risk perspective, the interdependencies attribute to deficiencies/liabilities, and the vulnerability increases with an increase in the number of such interdependencies. 
    more » « less
  3. The significance of critical infrastructure systems in maintaining productivity is undeniable. However, such systems remain susceptible to external disturbances and cascading failures. Instead of operating independently, these physical systems, such as transportation and stormwater systems, form an interdependent system. This interdependence, particularly important during flooding, illustrates that the failure of a stormwater system can disrupt traffic networks. To explore the extent of such interdependency, this study investigates the transportation and stormwater networks in Norman, Oklahoma. Using network science theories and concepts of multilayered networks, this paper analyzes these systems, both individually and in combination. The study identifies closely located components in the road and stormwater networks using Moran's I spatial autocorrelation metric. Next, the connectivity of these networks is represented in a graph format to investigate the topological credentials (i.e., rank of relative importance) of the network components (i.e., water inlets, road intersections as nodes, and stormwater conduits, road segments as links). Moreover, such credentials further change by considering the weights of the network components (i.e., average daily traffic, water flow). The proximity-based connectivity considerations between these networks utilizing Moran's I significance score revealed a good indicator of spatial interdependency. When incorporating directionality, the multilayer network analysis highlights that highly central components tend to cluster spatially, unlike the undirected counterpart. The study also identifies vulnerable locations and network components in a combined network setting that differ from the networks in isolation. In doing so, the research reveals new insights governing the complex reliance of transportation systems on neighboring stormwater systems. 
    more » « less
  4. Critical infrastructure networks, including water, power, communication, and transportation, among others, are necessary to society’s functionality. In recent years, the threat of different types of disruptions to such infrastructure networks has become an increasingly important problem to address. Due to existing interdependencies, damage to a small area of one of the networks could have far-reaching effects on the ability to meet demand across the entire system. Common disruption scenarios include, among others, intentional malevolent attacks, natural disasters, and random failures. Similar works have focused on only one type of scenario, but combining a variety of disruptions may lead to more realistic results. Additionally, the concept of social vulnerability, which describes an area’s ability to prepare for and respond to a disruption, must be included. This should promote not only the protection of the most at-risk components but also ensure that socially vulnerable communities are given adequate resources. This work provides a decision making framework to determine the allocation of defensive resources that accounts for all these factors. Accordingly, we propose a multi-objective mathematical model with the objectives of: (i) minimizing the vulnerability of a system of interdependent infrastructure networks, and (ii) minimizing the total cost of the resource allocation strategy. Moreover, to account for uncertainty in the proposed model, this paper incorporates a means to address robustness in finding the most adaptable network protection plan to reduce the vulnerability of the system of interdependent networks to a variety of disruption scenarios. The proposed work is illustrated with an application to social vulnerability and interdependent power, gas, and water networks in Shelby County, Tennessee. 
    more » « less
  5. This paper studies the problem of robustifying an interdependent network by rewiring a small number of links in realtime during a cascading attack. Interdependent networks have been widely used to model interconnected complex systems such as a critical infrastructure network including both the power grid and the Internet. Realtime robustification of interdependent networks, therefore, has significant practical importance. This paper formulates the problem using the Markov decision process (MDP) framework. We first show the problem is NP-hard and then develop an effective and efficient greedy algorithm, named R EAL W IRE , to robustify the network in realtime. R EAL W IRE scores each link (and each node) based on the expected number of links failures resulted from the failure of the link (or the node), and rewires the links greedily according to the scores. Extensive experimental results show that R EAL W IRE outperforms other algorithms on multiple trobustness metrics. 
    more » « less