Minimal Cut Sets Deduction Using a Simple Method via Tracing Minimal Paths to Assess Reliability of Power Systems

Abstract

A reliability study on random occurrences of undesirable failures or events during the lifetime of a physical system is conducted. Fault tree analysis is a powerful technique through which the reliability and safety of power systems can be assessed and suggestions for improvement can be provided. A minimal cut set (MCS) represents the combinations of component failures that can lead to the failure of the entire system. Fault tree analysis is the process of identifying the combinations of basic events that cause the occurrence of the top event. Top event is a main event of interest, for which the logic model is constructed. As the system becomes more interconnected, the MCS form that is graphically represented by a fault tree will be difficult to establish. This paper reports on a new method to deduce MCS by following a failure path based on a fault tree to assess the reliability of power systems. This method uses the incidence matrix and logic for numerous flow paths from the power sources to the loads. The proposed matrix can be presented as input data to any computer program (or simulation). Finally, the proposed method can be applied in complicated networks. An illustration shows the details and characteristics of the proposed method.