Fast BDD truncation method for efficient top event probability calculation

Abstract

A Binary Decision Diagram (BDD) is a graph-based data structure that calculates an exact top event probability (TEP). It has been a very difficult task to develop an efficient BDD algorithm that can solve a large problem since it is highly memory consuming. In order to solve a large reliability problem within limited computational resources, many attempts have been made, such as static and dynamic variable ordering schemes, to minimize BDD size. Additional effort was the development of a ZBDD (Zero-suppressed BDD) algorithm to calculate an approximate TER The present method is the first successful application of a BDD truncation. The new method is an efficient method to maintain a small BDD size by a BDD truncation during a BDD calculation. The benchmark tests demonstrate the efficiency of the developed method. The TEP rapidly converges to an exact value according to a lowered truncation limit.