Applications: ConGestive Failure in the Electric Power Grid

Cascading failure can have devastating results within and among infrastructures. The Advanced Modeling and Techniques Investigations (AMTI) group within the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) apply and extend the results of complexity theory to model and understand complex, interdependent critical infrastructures and guide their evolution to withstand the demands and threats of the future.
We developed Polynet, an agent-based model that simulates cascading failure and is applicable to a wide range of problems. We applied Polynet to analyses of the electric power grid and of Fedwire, the U.S. Federal Reserve's transaction network.

Background

Publications

• Advanced Simulation for Analysis of Critical Infrastructure: Abstract Cascades, the Electric power grid, and Fedwire, Robert J. Glass, Walt E. Beyeler, and Kevin L. Stamber, Sandia National Laboratories Report (2004-4239)

• Sensitivity of the resilience of congested random networks to rolloff and offset in truncated power-law degree distributions, LaViolette, R., W. E. Beyeler, R. J. Glass, K. L. Stamber, and H. Link.  Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Vol 368, Issue 1, 1 August 2006, pp 287-293. (2005-5926 J)

• Towards Risk-Based Management of Critical Infrastructures: Enabling Insights and Analysis Methodologies from a Focused Study of the Bulk Power Grid, Randall A. LaViolette, Bryan T. Richardson, and Benjamin K. Cook, Sandia National Laboratories, January 2008 (2008-0910)