Optimizing Fault Prevention and Repair Sequencing in Complex Systems

Abstract

Fault prevention and repair (FPR) sequencing plays a critical role in enhancing the resilience of complex infrastructure systems. This study develops four FPR sequencers—a centralized model (FPR-C) and three decentralized models (FPR-DD, FPR-DP, and FPR-DR)—to address random failures, cascading failures, and cascading failures with backup capacity. FPR-DD minimizes total damage, FPR-DP maximizes preventability, and FPR-DR repairs faults in random order. The sequencers are implemented in a simulation framework and evaluated on the Western United States power grid through 10,500 experiments. Results show that FPR-DD and FPR-DP consistently outperform other strategies, with optimal repair resource thresholds varying by failure type. These findings offer actionable guidelines for resource allocation and fault management to improve the resilience of complex engineered networks.