An official website of the United States government
The accelerated growth of urban areas in the last decades has led to an unprecedented increase in the construction of wind-sensitive structures, e.g., long-span bridges, tall buildings, wind turbines, and solar trackers. To effectively control undesired wind- and earthquake-induced responses, a plethora of operational technology and cyber-physical systems have been introduced, including supervisory control and data acquisition systems, programmable logic controllers, and remote terminal units. All these systems are potential targets for cyberattacks and have already been attacked in other sectors, including energy, industry, education, and health. This study analyzes this threat to critical infrastructure, quantifies its potential damage, and develops possible countermeasures and cyber-defenses so the structural engineering community can effectively address this emerging challenge.
more »
« less
On the cybersecurity of smart structures under wind
Controlling wind-induced responses is a challenging and fundamental step in the design of wind-sensitive critical infrastructures (CI). While passive design modifications and passive control devices are effective alternatives to a certain extent, further actions are required to fulfill design specifications under some demanding circumstances. Active countermeasures, such as active dampers, active aerodynamic devices, and operational control systems, stand out as a smart alternative that allows extra control over wind-induced responses of tall buildings, long-span bridges, wind turbines, and solar trackers. To make this possible, CI are equipped with operational technology (OT) and cyber–physical systems (CPS). However, as with any other OT/CPS, these systems can be threatened by cyberattacks. Changing their intended use could result in severe structural damage or even the eventual collapse of the structure. This study analyzes the potential consequences of cyberattacks against wind-sensitive structures equipped with OT/CPS based on case studies reported in the structural control literature. Several cyberattacks, scenarios, and possible defenses, including cyber-secure aero-structural design methods, are discussed. Furthermore, we conceptually introduce and analyze a new cyberattack, the ‘‘Wind-Leveraged False Data Injection’’ (WindFDI), that can be specifically developed by taking advantage of the positive feedback between wind loads and the misuse of active control systems.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2301824
- PAR ID:
- 10547731
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics
- Volume:
- 251
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0167-6105
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 105777
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Cyber physical system (CPS) Critical infrastructures (CIs) like the power and energy systems are increasingly becoming vulnerable to cyber attacks. Mitigating cyber risks in CIs is one of the key objectives of the design and maintenance of these systems. These CPS CIs commonly use legacy devices for remote monitoring and control where complete upgrades are uneconomical and infeasible. Therefore, risk assessment plays an important role in systematically enumerating and selectively securing vulnerable or high-risk assets through optimal investments in the cybersecurity of the CPS CIs. In this paper, we propose a CPS CI security framework and software tool, CySec Game, to be used by the CI industry and academic researchers to assess cyber risks and to optimally allocate cybersecurity investments to mitigate the risks. This framework uses attack tree, attack-defense tree, and game theory algorithms to identify high-risk targets and suggest optimal investments to mitigate the identified risks. We evaluate the efficacy of the framework using the tool by implementing a smart grid case study that shows accurate analysis and feasible implementation of the framework and the tool in this CPS CI environment.more » « less
-
This paper takes a first look at the potential consequences of cyberattacks against structural control systems. We design algorithms and implement them in a testbed and on well-known benchmark models for buildings and bridges. Our results show that attacks to structures equipped with semi-active and active vibration control systems can let the attacker oscillate the building or bridge at the resonance frequency, effectively generating threats to the structure and the people using it. We also implement and test the effectiveness of attack-detection systems.more » « less
-
This paper reviews the state-of-the-art and –practice on various methodologies developed to control the wind-induced vibration of tall buildings. Tall buildings experience wind-induced vibration in the along- and across-wind directions depending on the wind direction, building shape, height, and structural properties. It is possible to control the wind response of buildings through passive, active, and semi-active systems. Damping systems, which are widely used to reduce the structural vibrations, are reviewed, and their performance in alleviating the building vibration is discussed. It was found that the application of conventional dampers needs to be reassessed to ensure their efficiency in dissipating the energy, especially caused by wind loads. Specific attention has been given to the aerodynamic modification of building shapes considering their effectiveness and high popularity within the wind engineering community. A comprehensive review of the existing wind tunnel experiment and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies are conducted here to present the past and recent achievements on the response mitigation of tall buildings. A comparative study on the performance of different systems has been provided that can provide a commencing point for future studies. The existing challenges and their solutions are explained, and suggestions for future studies are proposed. It is expected that the information provided in this paper will facilitate further research in the area of wind-induced vibration mitigation approaches of tall buildings.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind provide an effective solution for reducing dependency on conventional power generation and increasing the reliability and quality of power systems. Presented in this paper are design and implementation of a laboratory scale solar microgrid cyber-physical system (CPS) with wireless data monitoring as a teaching tool in the engineering technology curriculum. In the system, the solar panel, battery, charge controller, and loads form the physical layer, while the sensors, communication networks, supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) and control systems form the cyber layer. The physical layer was seamlessly integrated with the cyber layer consisting of control and communication. The objective was to create a robust CPS platform and to use the system to promote interest in and knowledge of renewable energy among university students. Experimental results showed that the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller provided the loads with power from the solar panel and used additional power to charge the rechargeable battery. Through the system, students learned and mastered key concepts and knowledge of multi-disciplinary areas including data sampling and acquisition, analog to digital conversion, solar power, battery charging, control, embedded systems and software programing. It is a valuable teaching resource for students to study renewable energy in CPS.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2024.105777
