Design Of Critical Infrastructure Research Articles

Improving community resilience through distributed solar energy as critical infrastructure – a case study of South Asia

Purpose The analytical framework proposed in this study aims to link the capital portfolio approach to sustaining human well-being, 2015 sustainable development goals and development action ARC-D concepts. Nepal case study is a “tribrid” power generation system that combines distributed solar, hydro and wind power generation capacities for the resilience of a community of around 500 people in a remote village with a total installed capacity of 28 kW. The second case study is about the solarization of 900 health centres in Chhattisgarh, India, with off-grid solar PV with a cumulative capacity of 3 MW. Design/methodology/approach Critical infrastructure at the community scale needs to be resilient to maintain community-level functionality in the face of adverse impacts. The present study provides two case study sites from Nepal and India to demonstrate various elements of resilience building for critical infrastructures, especially for the energy sector. Findings Granular technology and distributed generation in Nepal and India can act as critical infrastructure in providing on-demand electricity service to enhance community-level resilience along with future opportunities of scale up. Originality/value The analytical framework for evaluating community-scale resilience through critical infrastructure design and application of the framework using evidence based on case studies are the original contributions.

A numerical methodology for estimating site-specific cascading earthquake and tsunami dynamic loading on critical infrastructure

A numerical methodology for deriving cascading earthquake and tsunami loading patterns for use in critical infrastructure design is proposed. Earthquake source parameters are first used to generate synthetic ground motion acceleration time series at the site of a critical infrastructure using an open-source stochastic extended finite-source simulation algorithm. Using the same earthquake source information, the tsunami phases of generation, propagation, and inundation are modeled using a coupling approach for determining tsunami wave forces. The coupling approach combines (1) a code based on non-linear shallow water equations solved by the Finite Volume method, which is used to capture the tsunami flow characteristics from generation through the inundation phase until relatively close to the structure, coupled with (2) an open-source computational fluid simulation code, which relies on solving the Navier–Stokes equations using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method. An appendix presents the validation of the numerical methodology through correlation of the numerical simulations with field data recorded during the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The methodology is then employed to characterize the ground shaking and tsunami loading patterns at the site of the container terminal of the Sines deep-water seaport in Portugal, when subjected to the historic 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake and Tsunami plausible scenarios. For the site, the generated ground motion acceleration time series show peak accelerations exceeding Eurocode 8 design values. Tsunami flow depths and velocities were computed in horizontal and vertical directions and could be used in the assessment of the existing infrastructure or the design of the future expansion of the port.

Rapid Postearthquake Field Reconnaissance, Paleoseismic Trenching, and GIS-Based Fault Slip Variability Measurements along the Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence, Southern California

ABSTRACTUnderstanding fault rupture deformation patterns, especially in complex fault zones, has fundamental implications on seismotectonic studies and hazard mitigation for the built environment. The 2019 Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake ruptures offer an opportunity to quantify deformation patterns and surface displacements from a complex fault rupture. Our field reconnaissance, within 18 hr of the Mw 6.4 event, documented a complex and relatively broad fault deformation zone up to a few kilometers wide in the vicinity of a gas transmission pipeline intersected by the surface rupture south of Highway 178. The subsequent Mw 7.1 event resulted in similarly distributed surface fault deformation within a broad zone that crossed a second gas transmission pipeline located south of Highway 178. On 10 July, fault-normal pipeline assessment trenches were excavated at both locations and provided evidence for late Pleistocene fault rupture on both faults expressed as upward fault truncations and paleoliquefaction features. Subsequent imagery-based rupture-mapping facilitated identification and measurement of offset features that were not identified during field mapping. Fault displacement measurements document a gradual decrease in fault slip on rupture southwestward from the Mw 6.4 epicenter within the study area. However, displacement along the primary Mw 7.1 rupture decreased more drastically southeastward toward a structural complexity at a fault stepover expressed as a horsetail splay. Fault-normal slip distributions showed that majority of the surface deformation was accommodated along discrete fault strands within the primary fault zone across both ruptures. This work expands the catalog of high-fidelity coseismic rupture information used to better understand seismotectonic processes, while contributing to refinement of fault displacement models used in support of critical infrastructure design.

Designating Regional Elements System in a Critical Infrastructure System in the Context of the Czech Republic

Critical infrastructure is a complex system whose disruption or failure results in significant impacts on state interests, i.e., territorial security, economy, and the basic needs of the population. The current European Critical Infrastructure Protection Model does not allow the direct identification of critical elements at the regional level. Based on this, the paper brings a proposal for a unified system of critical infrastructure design based on a bottom-up approach. It is a progressive approach, utilizing contemporary trends in the application of science-based knowledge to critical infrastructure. A holistic view of this issue allows us to take into account the needs and preferences of the population, the preferences of the stakeholders and the local conditions of the region under consideration. The novelty of this approach is seen, in particular, in the identification of regional critical infrastructure elements through an integral assessment of these elements’ failure impact, not only on the dependent subsectors, but also on the population (population equivalent) in the assessed region. The final part of the paper presents a case study demonstrating the practical application of the proposed system to the road infrastructure in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic.

Assessment and Design of Critical Infrastructures against Intentional Attacks Based on Degraded States Vulnerability Methodology

A crucial issue in today’s counterterrorism environment is how to assess critical infrastructure damage and develop a more appropriate design rapidly against intentional attacks, since it has become unacceptable to ignore the high impact of disruptions caused by these attacks. Degraded states vulnerability methodology (DSVM) is used to explore the vulnerability analysis and design method of critical infrastructures. After the terrorist attack, the damage status of the components at all levels of the target is quickly determined, and the probability of component level damage is simulated. Using this method to judge the functional damage condition and improve the planning and design under multi-hit. Respond quickly to the damage effect of each hit, and put forward multi-hit’s degraded states transition tables and state-effect tables. It provides the basis for rapid assessment, planning and design of critical infrastructure in modern local wars where terrorists are more intensive and frequent.

Towards damage-consistent performance-based design of critical infrastructures

Towards damage-consistent performance-based design of critical infrastructures

Physically-based extreme flood frequency with stochastic storm transposition and paleoflood data on large watersheds

Summary Traditionally, deterministic flood procedures such as the Probable Maximum Flood have been used for critical infrastructure design. Some Federal agencies now use hydrologic risk analysis to assess potential impacts of extreme events on existing structures such as large dams. Extreme flood hazard estimates and distributions are needed for these efforts, with very low annual exceedance probabilities ( ⩽ 10 - 4 ) (return periods >10,000 years). An integrated data-modeling hydrologic hazard framework for physically-based extreme flood hazard estimation is presented. Key elements include: (1) a physically-based runoff model (TREX) coupled with a stochastic storm transposition technique; (2) hydrometeorological information from radar and an extreme storm catalog; and (3) streamflow and paleoflood data for independently testing and refining runoff model predictions at internal locations. This new approach requires full integration of collaborative work in hydrometeorology, flood hydrology and paleoflood hydrology. An application on the 12,000 km2 Arkansas River watershed in Colorado demonstrates that the size and location of extreme storms are critical factors in the analysis of basin-average rainfall frequency and flood peak distributions. Runoff model results are substantially improved by the availability and use of paleoflood nonexceedance data spanning the past 1000 years at critical watershed locations.

Submarine landslide tsunamis: how extreme and how likely?

A number of examples are presented to substantiate that submarine landslides have occurred along most continental margins and along several volcano flanks. Their properties of importance for tsunami generation (i.e. physical dimensions, acceleration, maximum velocity, mass discharge, and travel distance) can all gain extreme values compared to their subaerial counterparts. Hence, landslide tsunamis may also be extreme and have regional impact. Landslide tsunami characteristics are discussed explaining how they may exceed tsunamis induced by megathrust earthquakes, hence representing a significant risk even though they occur more infrequently. In fact, submarine landslides may cause potentially extreme tsunami run-up heights, which may have consequences for the design of critical infrastructure often based on unjustifiably long return periods. Giant submarine landslides are rare and related to climate changes or glacial cycles, indicating that giant submarine landslide tsunami hazard is in most regions negligible compared to earthquake tsunami hazard. Large-scale debris flows surrounding active volcanoes or submarine landslides in river deltas may be more frequent. Giant volcano flank collapses at the Canary and Hawaii Islands developed in the early stages of the history of the volcanoes, and the tsunamigenic potential of these collapses is disputed. Estimations of recurrence intervals, hazard, and uncertainties with today’s methods are discussed. It is concluded that insufficient sampling and changing conditions for landslide release are major obstacles in transporting a Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) approach from earthquake to landslide tsunamis and that the more robust Scenario-Based Tsunami Hazard Assessment (SBTHA) approach will still be most efficient to use. Finally, the needs for data acquisition and analyses, laboratory experiments, and more sophisticated numerical modelling for improved understanding and hazard assessment of landslide tsunamis are elaborated.

Modular Filter-based Approach to Ground Motion Attenuation Modeling

Previous-generation ground-motion attenuation relations ( e.g. , Abrahamson and Silva 1997; Boore et al. 1997; Campbell 1997; Sadigh et al. 1997) were designed to predict ground motion at distances less than 100 km from an earthquake fault. As probabilistic and deterministic seismic hazard analysis concepts have become more prevalent in performance-based seismic design, these relations have been used in practice much beyond their distance limitation. Realizing the engineering needs for predicting ground motions at distances farther than 100 km, the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) relations project targeted a distance range up to 200 km (Power et al. 2006). For seismic hazard analysis in the western United States (WUS), 200 km is a sufficiently large distance to quantify design-basis hazard level from known active faults due to relatively fast attenuation of ground motion. For the central and eastern United States (CEUS), ground motion attenuates more slowly, yet design of critical infrastructures in the CEUS ( e.g. , nuclear power plants) requires computation of seismic hazard from distant large events. Thus, the recently initiated NGA-East project for CEUS set a goal to design ground-motion attenuation models applicable to 1,000 km. The objective of this article is to revisit the commonly used empirical approach to ground-motion attenuation modeling and compare it with an alternative modular filter-based approach that can be effectively used for predicting ground motion at near- ( 100 km). In this latter approach, each filter is calibrated separately to represent a certain physical phenomenon affecting seismic radiation from the source. We demonstrate that the modular filter-based approach provides accurate (that is, expected median prediction without significant bias) and efficient (that is, relatively small standard error of prediction) predictions. We also present our peak ground acceleration (PGA) based predictive model for …

Scenario-Based Seismic Risk Analysis: An Engineering Approach to the Development of Source and Site-Specific Ground Motion Time Histories in Areas of Low Seismicity

Modern engineering design methods require ground motion time histories as input for non-linear dynamic structural analysis. Non-linear dynamic methods of analysis are increasingly applied in the context of probabilistic risk assessments and for cost-effective design of critical infrastructures. In current engineering practice artificial time histories matching deterministic design spectra or probabilistic uniform hazard spectra are most frequently used for engineering analysis. The intermediate step of generation of response spectra can lead to a biased estimate of the potential damage from earthquakes because of insufficient consideration of the true energy content and strong motion duration of earthquakes. Thus, assessment of seismic risk may seem unrealistic. An engineering approach to the development of three-component ground motion time histories has been established which enables consideration of the typical characteristics of seismic sources, regional ground motion attenuation, and the main geotechnical characteristics of the target site. Therefore, the approach is suitable for use in scenario-based risk analysis a larger number of time histories are required for representation of the seismic hazard. Near-field effects are implemented in the stochastic source model using engineering approximations. The approach is suggested for use in areas of low seismicity where ground motion records of larger earthquakes are not available. Uncertainty analysis indicates that ground motions generated by individual earthquakes are well constrained and that the usual lognormal model is not the best choice for predicting the upper tail of the distribution of the ground motions.