Framework design for reliability engineering of complex systems

Abstract

Complex systems are known to show emergent, unexpected failure behaviors due to their inherent interdependency and interaction, including Internet, power grid, transportation systems and even financial systems. These complexities and the corresponding failure behaviors pose a challenge to traditional reliability engineering, since reliability of complex systems could not be comprehensively analyzed by methods such as FTA and FMECA, etc. Complex network theory is an effective and available technique to characterize the complex systems. The study on failure behaviors of complex systems combined with complex network theory will help to overcome the barriers in analyzing, calculating and improving the reliability of complex systems. A framework for the reliability engineering of complex systems is proposed in this paper, which is illustrated by an example of IEEE 14 BUS. The reliability of this typical complex system is calculated, and the vulnerable part of the system has also been identified, which can help us to improve the system reliability in terms of management and future design activities.