Structural and functional robustness of networked critical infrastructure systems under different failure scenarios

• Published in: Physica A 2019-06, Vol.523, p.476-487
• Main Authors: Wang, Shuliang, Lv, Wenzhuo, Zhao, Longfeng, Nie, Sen, Stanley, H. Eugene
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Functional characteristic; Percolation theory; Robustness assessment; Structural characteristic; Vulnerability
• ISSN: 0378-4371; 1873-2119
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2019.01.134

We analyze the structural and functional robustness of networked critical infrastructure systems (CISs). We propose a structural and functional robustness model of a typical complex network and take into account the corresponding measuring metrics and cascading processes to assess the impact of different hazard modes on robustness. We analyze the robustness of the shanghai subway network and the central China power grid to demonstrate an application of the model. We find that both are strongly robust to random failure but extremely vulnerable to targeted attack. We identify the critical areas most likely to be attack targets and use a functional perspective to identify vulnerabilities. Our proposed method can be applied to other CISs and aid in understanding the mechanisms of network robustness. •The structural and functional robustness are analyzed.•The critical areas most likely to be attack targets are identified.•The fraction of the system after a series of failures occur are determined.•Overload failures are examined to determine how they propagate.