Hierarchical differential evolution for minimal cut sets identification: Application to nuclear safety systems

Francesco Di Maio, Samuele Baronchelli and Enrico Zio

European Journal of Operational Research, 2014, vol. 238, issue 2, 645-652

Abstract: In this paper, we present a Hierarchical Differential Evolution (HDE) algorithm for minimal cut set (mcs) identification of coherent and non-coherent Fault Trees (FTs). In realistic application of large-size systems, problems may be encountered in handling a large number of gates and events. In this work, to avoid any approximation, mcs identification is originally transformed into a hierarchical optimization problem, stated as the search for the minimum combination of cut sets that can guarantee the best coverage of all the minterms that make the system fail: during the first step of the iterative search, a multiple-population, parallel search policy is used to expedite the convergence of the second step of the exploration algorithm. The proposed hierarchical method is applied to the Reactor Protection System (RPS) of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) and to the the Airlock System (AS) of a CANadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactor. Results are evaluated with respect to the accuracy and computational demand of the solution found.

Keywords: Dynamic reliability; Minimal cut sets (mcs); Fault Trees (FTs); Hierarchical Differential Evolution (HDE) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:238:y:2014:i:2:p:645-652

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2014.04.021

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