Eur. Phys. J. B (2013) 86: 329
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2013-31124-3

Regular Article

Cascading dynamics with local weighted flow redistribution in interdependent networks

School of Marketing and Logistics Management, Laboratory of Logistics, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210046, P.R. China

^a e-mail: jadeqyz@gmail.com

Received: 13 December 2012
Received in final form: 7 May 2013
Published online: 22 July 2013

Abstract

We study load cascading dynamics in a system composed of coupled interdependent networks while adopting a local weighted flow redistribution rule. We find that when the intra- or inter-connectivity increases, robustness against the cascade of load failures in the symmetrically coupled interdependent networks increases. In addition, when a failed link has to first split its flow asymmetrically to its neighbouring link groups according to the link types, even though there exists an optimal split, the robustness is lowered in contrast with the non-split situation. Furthermore, the optimal weighting mechanism in an isolated network no longer holds in interdependent networks. Finally, robustness against the cascade of load failures is not guaranteed to increase by making the distribution of the degree of intra-connectivity broader. We confirm these phenomena by theoretical analysis based on mean-field theory. Our findings might have great implications for preventing load-failure-induced local cascades in symmetrically coupled interdependent networks.