Stationary Network Load Models Underestimate Vulnerability to Cascading Failures
Abstract
We study cascading failures in networks, and investigate the impact of transient dynamics caused by the redistribution of loads after an initial network failure (triggering event). It is found that considering instead the stationary states, as has been done in the past, may dramatically {\it overestimate} (by 80--95%) the robustness of the network. This is due to the transient oscillations or overshooting in the loads, when the flow dynamics adjusts to the new (remaining) network structure. Consequently, additional parts of the network may be overloaded and therefore fail before the stationary state is reached. The dynamical effects are strongest on links in the neighborhood of broken links. This can cause failure waves in the network along neighboring links, while the evaluation of the stationary solution predicts a different order of link failures.Keywords
All Related Versions
This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: