Thesis-2007-Li.pdf (1.53 MB)
Hierarchical risk assessment of water supply systems
thesis
posted on 2007-03-23, 11:18 authored by Huipeng LiWater supply systems are usually designed, constructed, operated, and managed in an open
environment, thus they are inevitably exposed to varied uncertain threats and conditions. In
order to evaluate the reliability of water supply systems under threatened conditions, risk
assessment has been recognised as a useful tool to identify threats, analyse vulnerabilities and
risks, and select proper mitigation measures. However, due to the complexity and uncertainty
of water supply systems and risks, consistent and effective assessments are hard to
accomplish by using available risk techniques. With respect to this, the current study develops
a new method to assess the risks in complex water supply systems by reconsidering the
organisation of risk information and risk mechanism based on the concepts of object-oriented
approach. Then hierarchical assessments are conducted to evaluate the risks of components
and the water supply system.
The current study firstly adopts object-oriented approach, a natural and straightforward
mechanism of organising information of the real world systems, to represent the water supply
system at both component and system levels. At the component level, components of a water
supply system are viewed as different and functional objects. Associated with each object,
there are states transition diagrams that explicitly describe the risk relationships between
hazards/threats, possible failure states, and negative consequences. At the system level, the
water supply system is viewed as a network composed of interconnected objects. Objectoriented
structures of the system represent the whole/part relationships and interconnections
between components. Then based on the object states transition diagrams and object-oriented
structures, this study develops two types of frameworks for risk assessment, i.e., framework
of aggregative risk assessment and framework of fault tree analysis. Aggregative risk
assessment is to evaluate the risk levels of components, subsystems, and the overall water
supply system. While fault trees are to represent the cause-effect relationships for a specific
risk in the system. Assessments of these two frameworks can help decision makers to
prioritise their maintenance and management strategies in water supply systems.
In order to quantitatively evaluate the framework of aggregative risk, this thesis uses a fuzzy
evidential reasoning method to determine the risk levels associated with components,
subsystems, and the overall water supply system. Fuzzy sets theory is used to evaluate the
likelihood, severity, and risk levels associated with each hazard. Dempster-Shafer theory, a
typical evidential reasoning method, is adopted to aggregate the risk levels of multiple
hazards along the hierarchy of aggregative risk assessment to generate risk levels of
components, subsystems, and the overall water supply system. Although fuzzy sets theory and
Dempster-Shafer theory have been extensively applied to various problems, their potential of
conducting aggregative risk assessments is originally explored in this thesis.
Finally, in order to quantitatively evaluate the cause-effect relationships in a water supply
system, fuzzy fault tree analysis is adopted in this study. Results of this analysis are likelihood
of the occurrence for a specific event and importance measures of the possible contributing
events. These results can help risk analysts to plan their mitigation measures to effectively
control risks in the water supply system.
History
School
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Publication date
2007Notes
Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Loughborough UniversityEThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.515622Language
- en