Modelling physical contacts to evaluate the individual risk in a dense crowd

Abstract Tumble and stampede in a dense crowd may be caused by irrational behaviours of individuals and always troubles the safety management of crowd activities. Risk evaluation based on pedestrian dynamical models can be regarded as an effective method of preventing crowd disasters. Here, a method...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chongyang Wang, Liangchang Shen, Wenguo Weng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023-03-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31148-z
Description
Summary:Abstract Tumble and stampede in a dense crowd may be caused by irrational behaviours of individuals and always troubles the safety management of crowd activities. Risk evaluation based on pedestrian dynamical models can be regarded as an effective method of preventing crowd disasters. Here, a method depending on a combination of collision impulses and pushing forces was used to model the physical contacts between individuals in a dense crowd, by which the acceleration error during physical contacts caused by a traditional dynamical equation can be avoided. The human domino effect in a dense crowd could be successfully reproduced, and the crushing and trampling risk of a microscopic individual in a crowd could be quantitatively evaluated separately. This method provides a more reliable and integral data foundation for evaluating individual risk that shows better portability and repeatability than macroscopic crowd risk evaluation methods and will also be conducive to preventing crowd disasters.
ISSN:2045-2322