The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility Buildings

Aim: The article presents a proposition of a model for estimating people’s evacuation time from public utility buildings of category ZL III (not containing rooms designed for the simultaneous presence of more than 50 people who are not their regular users, not primarily intended for use by people wi...

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Main Authors: Iwona Orłowska, Marek Dziubiński
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scientific and Research Centre for Fire Protection - National Research Institute 2019-06-01
Series:Safety & Fire Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://panel.sft.cnbop.pl/storage/f89d237a-4649-4467-b902-129ab3f082c0
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author Iwona Orłowska
Marek Dziubiński
author_facet Iwona Orłowska
Marek Dziubiński
author_sort Iwona Orłowska
collection DOAJ
description Aim: The article presents a proposition of a model for estimating people’s evacuation time from public utility buildings of category ZL III (not containing rooms designed for the simultaneous presence of more than 50 people who are not their regular users, not primarily intended for use by people with limited mobility). The model is based on the analogy between the theory of road traffic and the process of people’s movement during evacuation. Project and methods: In order to develop the model, a series of trial evacuations of people from public utility category ZL III buildings of varied geometry and number of users was conducted. A comparative analysis was performed concerning the evacuation times calculated with the use of models available in literature – a critical model of evacuation time, models designed by Togawa, Melenik and Booth, Galbreath, Pauls, methodology of the British Standard, and those derived from computer simulations performed with the use of the Pathfinder software. Based on the analysis of the conducted research and model considerations, an equation for the estimation of evacuation time was proposed based on a modified Greenberg’s equation derived from the road traffic theory. In the model modification, the concept of replacement length of evacuation route elements was applied, significantly slowing down people’s movement velocity, and a method for calculating them was proposed. Results: The evacuation times obtained in experimental research were compared to the model time values calculated from the models published in literature. A considerable dispersion of the achieved results was shown, ranging from –65.0% to +425.8% with respect to the evacuation times obtained experimentally. The performance of computer simulations brought evacuation times with a bias ranging from –54.4% to +26.0% with respect to the experiments conducted. Evacuation times calculated with the use of the proposed equation were in line with the experimental results with an error ranging from –12.3% to +13.8%. However, in comparison to the times obtained from additional computer simulations, representing the description of evacuation from buildings with highly varied geometry and various numbers of evacuees, the deviation of the calculated evacuation time from the proposed model was from –16.7% to +23.1%. In the vast majority of cases, the deviation of the result oscillated around ± 15% for a wide range of buildings’ geometry and the number of evacuees. Conclusions: The proposed model makes it possible to determine with sufficient accuracy the evacuation time of people from public utility buildings of category ZL III and can serve as a reliable source of comparative information
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spelling doaj.art-d141630277e541a09cb16a249aa21a5d2022-12-21T20:41:03ZengScientific and Research Centre for Fire Protection - National Research InstituteSafety & Fire Technology2657-88082658-08102019-06-015318810510.12845/SFT.53.1.2019.5The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility BuildingsIwona Orłowska0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7134-0542Marek Dziubiński1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0208-3570Łódź University of TechnologyŁódź University of TechnologyAim: The article presents a proposition of a model for estimating people’s evacuation time from public utility buildings of category ZL III (not containing rooms designed for the simultaneous presence of more than 50 people who are not their regular users, not primarily intended for use by people with limited mobility). The model is based on the analogy between the theory of road traffic and the process of people’s movement during evacuation. Project and methods: In order to develop the model, a series of trial evacuations of people from public utility category ZL III buildings of varied geometry and number of users was conducted. A comparative analysis was performed concerning the evacuation times calculated with the use of models available in literature – a critical model of evacuation time, models designed by Togawa, Melenik and Booth, Galbreath, Pauls, methodology of the British Standard, and those derived from computer simulations performed with the use of the Pathfinder software. Based on the analysis of the conducted research and model considerations, an equation for the estimation of evacuation time was proposed based on a modified Greenberg’s equation derived from the road traffic theory. In the model modification, the concept of replacement length of evacuation route elements was applied, significantly slowing down people’s movement velocity, and a method for calculating them was proposed. Results: The evacuation times obtained in experimental research were compared to the model time values calculated from the models published in literature. A considerable dispersion of the achieved results was shown, ranging from –65.0% to +425.8% with respect to the evacuation times obtained experimentally. The performance of computer simulations brought evacuation times with a bias ranging from –54.4% to +26.0% with respect to the experiments conducted. Evacuation times calculated with the use of the proposed equation were in line with the experimental results with an error ranging from –12.3% to +13.8%. However, in comparison to the times obtained from additional computer simulations, representing the description of evacuation from buildings with highly varied geometry and various numbers of evacuees, the deviation of the calculated evacuation time from the proposed model was from –16.7% to +23.1%. In the vast majority of cases, the deviation of the result oscillated around ± 15% for a wide range of buildings’ geometry and the number of evacuees. Conclusions: The proposed model makes it possible to determine with sufficient accuracy the evacuation time of people from public utility buildings of category ZL III and can serve as a reliable source of comparative informationhttps://panel.sft.cnbop.pl/storage/f89d237a-4649-4467-b902-129ab3f082c0experimentevacuationtransition timeevacuation time
spellingShingle Iwona Orłowska
Marek Dziubiński
The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility Buildings
Safety & Fire Technology
experiment
evacuation
transition time
evacuation time
title The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility Buildings
title_full The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility Buildings
title_fullStr The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility Buildings
title_full_unstemmed The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility Buildings
title_short The Application of Greenberg’s Model Modification for Etimating the Evacuation Time of People from Public Utility Buildings
title_sort application of greenberg s model modification for etimating the evacuation time of people from public utility buildings
topic experiment
evacuation
transition time
evacuation time
url https://panel.sft.cnbop.pl/storage/f89d237a-4649-4467-b902-129ab3f082c0
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