Optimizing system resilience: A facility protection model with recovery time

Optimizing system resilience is concerned with the development of strategies to restore a system to normal operations as quickly and efficiently as possible following potential disruption. To this end, we present in this article a bilevel mixed integer linear program for protecting an uncapacitated median type facility network against worst-case losses, taking into account the role of facility recovery time on system performance and the possibility of multiple disruptions over time. The model differs from previous types of facility protection models in that protection is not necessarily assumed to prevent facility failure altogether, but more precisely to speed up recovery time following a potential disruption. Three different decomposition approaches are devised to optimally solve medium to large problem instances. Computational results provide a cross comparison of the efficiency of each algorithm. Additionally, we present an analysis to estimate cost-efficient levels of investments in protection resources.

► We propose a bilevel model to protect median systems against worst-case losses.
► The model identifies which facilities to harden to speed-up recovery time following disruption.
► The model considers the possibility of multiple disruptions over a planning horizon.
► We propose three decomposition algorithms to optimally solve medium to large instances.
► We examine how changes in the protection budget impact overall system efficiency.