Agent-based simulation of building evacuation: Combining human behavior with predictable spatial accessibility in a fire emergency
Authored by Lu Tan, Mingyuan Hu, Hui Lin
Date Published: 2015
DOI: 10.1016/j.ins.2014.09.029
Sponsors:
Chinese National Natural Science Foundation
Platforms:
Agent Analyst
Model Documentation:
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Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
The building environment and evacuation behavior are decisive factors
for building evacuation performance. Shifting toward the use of
agent-based models, many current studies have considered the
heterogeneous evacuation behavior resulting from an individualized
perception of the building environment, but few studies have
incorporated the evacuees' awareness of the predictable change in the
spatial accessibility by activated fire safety facilities during
emergency scenarios. To investigate the specific influence of such
spatial change on the evacuation performance, this study presents an
agent-based building evacuation model in which the evacuee's knowledge, including both the spatial knowledge of the stationary environment
during a normal situation and the event knowledge of the predictable
spatial change for fire-fighting purposes, is considered. In addition, a
semantic representation of building environment is developed to
represent the alterable connectivity structure when considering the fire
safety facilities. Using the proposed model, a series of evacuation
simulations have been conducted for groups of evacuees with different
knowledge levels during three specific fire scenarios. The simulation
results suggest that the proposed model can evaluate the potential
influence of the spatial change on the evacuation efficiency, which is
dependent on the evacuees' knowledge level and the location of the fire
safety facilities. The model, although a prototype at this stage, will
facilitate more realistic evacuation simulation in fire emergency
scenarios and will support building evacuation management. (C) 2014
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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