A Review of Building Evacuation Models - NIST Virtual Library

• Number of people through each link created over 5-second time intervals
• Total number of occupants through each exit, based on the listing of the movement of each
individual per time period.
• Exit clearing times (obtained from analysis of output)
Use of fire data: No.
Import CAD drawings: Yes, CAD drawings can be imported into the program. The program
does not, however, read stair information. This must be provided by the user, such as distance
and width. Also, links are specified in the program to link the floor plan with the stair section, as
well as the floor plan to the exit to the outside (or area of safety).
Visualization capabilities: 2-D visualization.
Validation studies: Several validation studies are available for Simulex. One study has been
completed from a supermarket as well as an examination of the flow rates through exits
generated by Simulex 38 . Although the model developers did not have actual data from the
supermarket, they compared Simulex results to that of simple hand calculations (with a velocity
of 1.19 m/s) of optimal movement for populations of 1097 and 1919 people. These occupant
population values resembled an occupant density of 7.0 m 2 /person (0.14 persons/m 2 ) and
4.0 m 2 /person (0.25 persons/m 2 )respectively. Simulex produced evacuation times, 58.1 s for 7.0
m 2 /person and 105.1 s for 4.0 m 2 /person, that were significantly longer than the hand
calculations, which produced values of 35 s and 51.3 s. It is unclear as to what this shows as to
the accuracy of the model. For the simulation of flow rates, Simulex used a distribution of exit
widths ranging from 0.7 to 3.0 m for a population of 100 and an occupant density of 0.25
m 2 /person (0.25 persons/m 2 ). “The model was found to produce flow rates which were in good
agreement with previously published data” 42 . The model also showed that the exits became
jammed with widths smaller than 1.1 m.
Evacuation times and occupant movement were also observed in three university buildings and
the modeled in Simulex to compare results. Human behavior and movement of the occupants
were recorded with video cameras and the total evacuation time, pre-movement times, and other
evacuation behavior were noted. The three buildings consisted of a 1-story central lecture
theater, an 8-story commerce building (with lecture halls, seminar rooms, computer labs, offices,
etc.), and a 5-story law building (equipped with the same type rooms as the commerce building)
on the University of Canterbury, Christchurch campus in New Zealand. Each of the observed
evacuations took place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. when most of the occupants were present.
The buildings were equipped with different levels of alarm, such as pre-recorded PA, live
directive PA, or a siren alarm. The total evacuation times, presented in Table A.6, specified in
the table below were measured from initiation of alarm until no occupants were detected in the
buildings:
A-27