Critical appraisal of tools and methodologies for studies of cascading failures in coupled critical infrastructure systems

Abstract

Integration of critical infrastructures contributes to an increasing complexity and heterogeneity of their interdependencies, which results in a more detailed analysis process with emphasis on a certain aspect of the interactions such as cascading effects rather than the overarching system modelling and simulation. When external disturbances like natural disasters and intentional attacks take place, induced cascading failures are more likely to happen in large scale than they used to be. Their propagation paths and time-dependent behaviours are largely unknown to the area researchers and post-disaster consequences are rather difficult to quantify. This paper is presenting critical appraisal of existing methodologies for modelling cascading failures in interconnected systems. General explanations of the most widely used methodologies are firstly illustrated with the emphasis on their advantages and disadvantages and with the aim of choosing appropriate modelling and simulation methods for study of cascading failures in coupled electric power grids and telecommunication systems.