Modelización computacional del ensayo de evacuación de emergencia de aviones de transporte

Abstract

Risky situations appear in the operation of transport airplanes in which emergency evacuation needs to be performed, very seldom fortunately. The effectiveness of this operation is crucial to save the lives of the occupants.To ensure a certain level of security, the certification of these aircrafts requires successfully fulfilling the so-called evacuation test. It is performed to determine the time needed to completely evacuate the plane in a single real-scale demonstration, with authentic occupants and in specific conditions stipulated by the regulations. The evacuation time must be below 90 seconds, although there are exceptions.The information provided on the random variable evacuation time by a single trial of this type is obviously not significant, besides the risk to participants that such experiments carry and the costs and delays added to the certification process. Recently, certification authorities admit partial replacement of demonstration test by reasoned calculations, to determine several component times of the evacuation test.To help in the understanding of this process, the Thesis follows a rigorous theoretical analysis, a detailed modeling and, last but not least, a computer simulation tool, whose purpose is threefold: 1. To validate the proposed model. 2. To predict significant times of the evacuation test. To replace the test in whole or in part.The analysis consists of identifying the relevant elements of the evacuation test domain and of capturing those attributes or properties that serve to define and distinguish its diverse elements. Such elements can be classified into three different types in the proposed domain model: Stage (airplane, land and evacuation means).Human factor (authorities, applicant company and occupants). Operating rules of the test (regulations and common practices).The solution model abstracts what is strictly relevant of domain model and simplifies the information to be used, with the aim of obtaining a simple and sufficiently precise model about the phenomenon. Simplifying assumptions made in the solution model cover various aspects: geometry, time, movement, behavior, etc. As an example, the pathways orthogonality is adopted, which greatly helps in the treatment of evacuation geometry.To compare and evaluate both real and simulated evacuation tests a theory on evacuation tests assessment is developed. It includes the definition of a set of test quality parameters computable using the test results.