Usage leading to an abrupt collapse of connectivity

Network infrastructures are essential for the distribution of resources such as electricity and water. Typical strategies to assess their resilience focus on the impact of a sequence of random or targeted failures of network nodes or links. Here we consider a more realistic scenario, where elements fail based on their usage. We propose a dynamic model of transport based on the Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld sandpile model where links fail after they have transported more than an amount μ (threshold) of the resource and we investigate it on the square lattice. As we deal with a new model, we provide insight on its fundamental behavior and dependence on parameters. We observe that, for low values of the threshold due to a positive feedback of link failure, an avalanche develops that leads to an abrupt collapse of the lattice. By contrast, for high thresholds the lattice breaks down in an uncorrelated fashion. We determine the critical threshold μ* separating these two regimes and show how it depends on the toppling threshold of the nodes and the mass increment added stepwise to the system. We find that the time of major disconnection is well described with a linear dependence on μ. Furthermore, we propose a lower bound for μ* by measuring the strength of the dynamics leading to abrupt collapses.