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Experimental study on small group behavior and crowd dynamics in a tall office building evacuation

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  • Ma, Yaping
  • Li, Lihua
  • Zhang, Hui
  • Chen, Tao

Abstract

It is well known that a large percentage of occupants in a building are evacuated together with their friends, families, and officemates, especially in China. Small group behaviors are therefore critical for crowd movement. This paper aims to study the crowd dynamic considering different social relations and the impacts of small groups on crowd dynamics in emergency evacuation. Three experiments are conducted in an 11-storey office building. In the first two experiments, all participants are classmates and know each other well. They are evacuated as individuals or pairs. In the third experiment, social relations among the participants are complex. Participants consist of 8 families, 6 lovers and several individuals. Space–time features, speed characteristics and density–speed relations for each experiment are analyzed and compared. Results conclude that small group behaviors can make positive impacts on crowd dynamics when evacuees know each other and are cooperative. This conclusion is also testified by four verified experiments. In the third experiment, speeds of evacuees are lowest. Small groups form automatically with the presence of intimate social relations. Small groups in this experiment slow down the average speed of the crowd and make disturbance on the crowd flow. Small groups in this case make negative impacts on the movement of the crowd. It is because that evacuees do not know each other and they are competitive to each other. Characteristics of different types of small groups are also investigated. Experimental data can provide foundational parameters for evacuation model development and are helpful for building designers.

Suggested Citation

  • Ma, Yaping & Li, Lihua & Zhang, Hui & Chen, Tao, 2017. "Experimental study on small group behavior and crowd dynamics in a tall office building evacuation," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 473(C), pages 488-500.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:473:y:2017:i:c:p:488-500
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2017.01.032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yaping Ma & Xiaoying Liu & Feizhou Huo & Hui Li, 2022. "Analysis of Cooperation Behaviors and Crowd Dynamics during Pedestrian Evacuation with Group Existence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.
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    3. Zhang, Jingjing & Zhao, Jincheng & Song, Zhensen & Duan, Liping, 2023. "Experimental and modeling study on evacuation behaviors considering small groups under different visibility," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 623(C).
    4. Huang, Rong & Zhao, Xuan & Yuan, Yufei & Yu, Qiang & Zhou, Chenyu & Daamen, Winnie, 2021. "Experimental study on evacuation behaviour of passengers in a high-deck coach: A Chinese case study," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 579(C).
    5. Guo, Ning & Ling, Xiang & Ding, Zhongjun & Long, Jiancheng & Zhu, Kongjin, 2019. "An improved heuristic-based model to reproduce pedestrian dynamic on the single-file staircase," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 535(C).
    6. Subramanian, Gayathri Harihara & Choubey, Nipun & Verma, Ashish, 2022. "Modelling and simulating serpentine group behaviour in crowds using modified social force model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 604(C).
    7. Yunyun Niu & Jieqiong Zhang & Yongpeng Zhang & Jianhua Xiao, 2019. "Modeling Evacuation of High-Rise Buildings Based on Intelligence Decision P System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-17, August.
    8. Zilin Yang & Xinping Wang & Chang Su & Boying Li, 2022. "The Relationship between Employee Risk Communication and Non-Adaptive Evacuation Behavior in Chinese Hazardous Chemical Companies: The Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion and Risk Perception," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-13, September.
    9. Yudi Zhang & Lei He, 2022. "Research on the Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Community Residents’ Night Evacuation Behavior Based on Structural Equation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-21, October.
    10. Liu, Yixue & Mao, Zhanli, 2022. "An experimental study on the critical state of herd behavior in decision-making of the crowd evacuation," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 595(C).
    11. Feng, Jiaojiao & Wang, Jinghong & Li, Jia & Li, Jiachen & Xu, Shuangyan & Liu, Juan & Li, Jiapeng & Wang, Yan, 2022. "Study on the law of vertical evacuation behavior during earthquakes considering social relationship," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 586(C).
    12. Fu, Libi & Shi, Qingxin & Qin, Huigui & Zhang, Ying & Shi, Yongqian, 2022. "Analysis of movement behavior of pedestrian social groups through a bottleneck," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 608(P1).
    13. Zhang, Bosi & Chen, Wenyan & Ma, Xian & Qiu, Ping & Liu, Fupeng, 2020. "Experimental study on pedestrian behavior in a mixed crowd of individuals and groups," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 556(C).
    14. Huang, Zhongyi & Fan, Rui & Fang, Zhiming & Ye, Rui & Li, Xiaolian & Xu, Qingfeng & Gao, Huisheng & Gao, Yan, 2022. "Performance of occupant evacuation in a super high-rise building up to 583 m," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 589(C).

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