Microscopic dynamics of the evacuation phenomena

Abstract

We studied the room evacuation problem within the context of the Social Force Model. We focused on a system of 225 pedestrians escaping from a room in different anxiety levels, and analyzed the clogging delays as the relevant magnitude responsible for the evacuation performance. We linked the delays with the clusterization phenomenon along the faster is slower and the faster is faster regimes. We will show that the faster is faster regime is characterized by the presence of a giant cluster structure (composed by more than 15 pedestrians), although no long lasting delays appear within this regime. For this system, we found that the relevant structures in the faster is slower regime are those blocking clusters that are somehow attached to the two walls defining the exit. At very low desired velocities, very small structures become relevant (composed by less than 5 pedestrians), but at intermediate velocities (v d 3 m/s) the pedestrians involved in the blockings increases (not exceeding 15 pedestrians).