Method for finding cuts for engineering infrastructure management tasks

The goal of the functioning of engineering networks is to ensure the delivery of a particular resource to a consumer, ideally with uninterrupted supply which directly depends on the integrity of the network infrastructure. However, various factors such as attacks by malicious actors, natural disasters, and technological accidents can lead to the disconnection of certain parts of the network, resulting in the disruption of resource delivery. This necessitates the task of identifying the most vulnerable parts of the engineering network in terms of potential damage, which allows appropriate measures to be taken to protect the network from negative factors and ensure maximum uninterrupted resource delivery. Engineering networks are commonly modeled as graph structures, therefore one method of solving this task is to find the cuts of the network graph. While such methods exist, they all have certain limitations. This study proposes a new method for finding all cuts of a directed graph of arbitrary dimension, which eliminates these limitations, describes the algorithm for this method, and provides theoretical justification. The concept of the method is based on constructing graph cuts (multicuts) in such a way that all cuts are identified, and can be done in a reasonable amount of time. Examples of engineering networks where this method can be used as a tool for making rational decisions in operating network objects include power grids, transportation networks, water supply and sewerage networks, as well as communication and telecommunications networks.

graph, cut, multicuts, engineering network, free path in graph