A social force evacuation model considering the effect of emergency signs

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the effect of emergency signs on evacuation dynamics under smoke conditions. We assume that in a smoky hall the visual field of pedestrians is limited to a certain range, and they do not know the exact location of the exit. In this kind of evacuation process, we analyze the influence of emergency signs on movement direction and speed, and the herd behavior of pedestrians. In the analysis, we divide the emergency signs into two types: the wall signs (WS) and the ground signs (GS). Then, we analyze the variation of pedestrian behavior when they encounter the WS, the GS, and the exit in the evacuation process. Combined with the analysis results, we build our improved model based on the social force model. In the simulation, we study the evacuation process in the case of WS and GS. According to the result of the simulation, we consider that the effect of the emergency signs on herd behavior and the desired speed is an important factor to improve evacuation efficiency. We find that, from the perspective of evacuation time, the evacuation in the case of WS is more efficient, but from the perspective of the interaction between pedestrians, the evacuation in the case of GS presents less security risk. Finally, we explore how to design a mixed layout scheme of WS and GS.

Human Behavior During Emergency Evacuation: Cell Transmission Model

“…There are two categories for pedestrian evacuation research, i.e., empirical methods [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and simulation methods [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. The results of the experiments can provide the basic data for the prediction of pedestrian evacuation.…”

“…In the simulation process of microscopic model, each pedestrian is regarded as a discrete individual. Typical representatives of the microscopic model are the social force, lattice gas, and cellular automaton models [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. In the social force model, the pedestrians can be considered as structureless particles and the movement is based on Newtonian mechanics.…”

“…Wang et al [21] modified the social force model by considering the impacts of interaction among companions. Yuan et al [22] investigated the effect of emergency signs on evacuation dynamics under smoke conditions. Li et al [23] improved the social force model to compare the path selection and evacuation tactic of pedestrians under the condition of complete and incomplete evacuation information.…”

Modeling Evacuation of High-Rise Buildings Based on Intelligence Decision P System

“…Cellular automaton models typically simulate the homogeneous population of adults in buildings; that is, each cell is occupied by a single adult [5][6][7][8]. The social force model, treating all kinds of pedestrians as force-driven particles, has been used for the evacuation problem of pedestrians [9][10][11][12]. Game theory model applies the game rules of pedestrians in various industries to deal with the interaction between limited types of pedestrians [13][14][15][16].…”

Modeling Pedestrian Choice Behavior of Vertical Walking Facilities in Rail Transit Station Considering Reminder Sign

“…Xiong et al analyzed the impact of traffic sign on pedestrian dynamics with questionnaire survey, and simulated one-way pedestrian flow with traffic sign in the passage [16]. Under the smoke condition, the effects of wall sign and ground sign are different [17]. From the perspective of evacuation efficiency, wall sign performs better.…”