Simulation of Aircraft Cabin Evacuation Strategy Based on Exit Flow Equilibrium
X. Y. Guo, Zhen Zeng, Mengxiang Li, S. Fu
Abstract
Exit flow equilibrium method based on crowd evacuation dynamics theory was applied in this study to clarify the reasons that hinder the evacuation of aircraft cabin passengers as well as reduce the evacuation time using the A-configuration cabin layout of a B737-800 as an example. Pathfinder simulation software was utilized to simulate and compare the evacuation efficiency of three scenarios: no command scenario, exit equilibrium scenario, and evacuation sequence arrangement; reveal the key reasons causing the evacuation congestion of aircraft cabin; and propose the evacuation strategy with the minimum amount of time. Results show that the evacuation time is 99 s under the condition of no command and 86.8 s under the condition of balanced exit utilization. The evacuation efficiency in the case of balanced use of emergency exits reaches the maximum when passengers near the aisle are evacuated first at an evacuation time of 79.3 seconds. The obtained conclusions provide a significantly reference and method support for efficient emergency evacuation strategies of civil aircrafts.