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Chaos / Volume 20 / Issue 3 / REGULAR ARTICLES

Chaos 20, 033122 (2010); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3489887 (5 pages)

Do topological models provide good information about electricity infrastructure vulnerability?

Paul Hines1, Eduardo Cotilla-Sanchez1, and Seth Blumsack2

1School of Engineering, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA
2Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA

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(Received 7 April 2010; accepted 24 August 2010; published online 28 September 2010)

In order to identify the extent to which results from topological graph models are useful for modeling vulnerability in electricity infrastructure, we measure the susceptibility of power networks to random failures and directed attacks using three measures of vulnerability: characteristic path lengths, connectivity loss, and blackout sizes. The first two are purely topological metrics. The blackout size calculation results from a model of cascading failure in power networks. Testing the response of 40 areas within the Eastern U.S. power grid and a standard IEEE test case to a variety of attack/failure vectors indicates that directed attacks result in larger failures using all three vulnerability measures, but the attack-vectors that appear to cause the most damage depend on the measure chosen. While the topological metrics and the power grid model show some similar trends, the vulnerability metrics for individual simulations show only a mild correlation. We conclude that evaluating vulnerability in power networks using purely topological metrics can be misleading.

© 2010 American Institute of Physics

Lead Paragraph

Electricity infrastructures are vital to the operation of modern society, yet they are notably vulnerable to cascading failures. Understanding the nature of this vulnerability is fundamental to the assessment of electric energy reliability and security. A number of articles have recently used topological (graph theoretic) models to assess vulnerability in electricity systems. In this article, we illustrate that under some circumstances these topological models can lead to provocative, but ultimately misleading conclusions. We argue that empirical comparisons between topological models and higher fidelity models are necessary in order to draw firm conclusions about the utility of complex networks methods.

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. VULNERABILITY MEASURES
  3. ATTACK-VECTORS
  4. RESULTS
  5. CONCLUSIONS

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

graph theory, IEEE standards, power system faults, power system reliability

PACS

  • 84.70.+p

    High-current and high-voltage technology: power systems; power transmission lines and cables

  • 02.10.Ox

    Combinatorics; graph theory

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3489887

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

1054-1500 (print)  
1089-7682 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

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    References

    R. Albert and A. Barabasi, Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 47 (2002).

    R. Albert, I. Albert, and G. Nakarado, Phys. Rev. E 69, 025103(R) (2004).

    R. V. Solé, M. Rosas-Casals, B. Corominas-Murtra, and S. Valverde, Phys. Rev. E 77, 026102 (2008).

    S. Arianos, E. Bompard, A. Carbone, and F. Xue, Chaos 19, 013119 (2009)CHAOEH000019000001013119000001.

    I. Dobson, B. Carreras, V. Lynch, and D. Newman, Chaos 17, 026103 (2007)CHAOEH000017000002026103000001.


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