Research Information System
Journal of Building Engineering, vol.95, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Emergency evacuations are critical situations that threaten people's lives and safety, necessitating robust planning and prevention strategies. Anthropometric data, which are numerical expressions of human body measurements, play a vital role in architectural design by helping determine safe evacuation routes. This data is crucial for understanding the physical characteristics and mobility of building occupants, allowing for optimized evacuation routes that accommodate the needs of various groups, such as the elderly, children, and individuals with physical disabilities. The Social Forces Model (SFM) is an important tool used to understand the behavior and movement of crowds, modeling these aspects mathematically by considering social interactions and environmental factors. This study develops a system to enhance emergency evacuation scenarios in buildings using anthropometric data and SFM. This system analyzes the evacuation process and identifies optimal routes, contributing significantly to ensuring safety and minimizing damage during disasters. The research shows that using anthropometric data and SFM in architectural design is essential for effective emergency evacuation planning and management. Simulations that incorporate the diverse physical characteristics of people demonstrate notable improvements in evacuation times compared to those using fixed values, with up to 10.20 % improvement in single-exit scenarios and up to 13.45 % in two-exit scenarios. Furthermore, evacuation routes are optimized using SFM, and histograms are employed to identify the most preferred routes during panic situations. This data-driven approach informs the design of building and floor layouts, as well as the materials and decorations used, ensuring that evacuation routes remain clear and accessible. Removing obstacles and facilitating easy passage during emergencies significantly enhances the effectiveness of evacuations. Overall, the integration of anthropometric data and SFM in building design is shown to create faster and safer evacuation processes, ultimately improving emergency response and safety.