Water and wastewater network, electric power network, transportation network, communication network, and information technology network are among the critical infrastructure in our communities; their disruption during and after hazard events greatly affects communities’ well-being, economic security, social welfare, and public health. In addition, a disruption in one network may cause disruption to other networks and lead to their reduced functionality. This paper presents a unified theoretical methodology for the modeling of dependent/interdependent infrastructure networks and incorporates it in a six-step probabilistic procedure to assess their resilience. Both the methodology and the procedure are general, can be applied to any infrastructure network and hazard, and can model different types of dependencies between networks. As an illustration, the paper models the direct effects of seismic events on the functionality of a potable water distribution network and the cascading effects of the damage of the electric power network (EPN) on the potable water distribution network (WN). The results quantify the loss of functionality and delay in the recovery process due to dependency of the WN on the EPN. The results show the importance of capturing the dependency between networks in modeling the resilience of critical infrastructure.
Tsunamis are rare destructive phenomena caused by the sudden displacement of a large amount of water in the ocean and can result in enormous losses to coastal communities. The resilience of coastal communities to tsunamis can be improved through the use of risk-informed decision making tools. Performance-Based Engineering (PBE) approaches have been developed for different natural hazards including earthquake, fire, hurricane, and wind to perform probabilistic risk assessment for structures. In this study, a probabilistic Performance-Based Tsunami Engineering (PBTE) framework based on the total probability theorem is proposed for the risk assessment of structures subject to tsunamis. The proposed framework can be disaggregated into the different basic analysis phases of hazard analysis, foundation and structure characterization, interaction analysis, structural analysis, damage analysis, and loss analysis. An application example consisting of the risk assessment of a three-story steel moment frame structure was performed using the proposed framework. The probability of exceedance of the total replacement cost including structural, nonstructural, and content losses were computed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.